Mass Effect: After the War
by theaterman007
Summary: Taking place during the three year gap of my "Extended" Extended Cut story, Captain Mark Shepard goes on several missions that pit him against his few surviving enemies from the games. All leading up to the introduction of a new original main antagonist with a connection to a ME1 assignment.
1. 1-1

**A/N: As the summary says, this is going to follow a few adventures I thought Shepard could have during the three year gap in my "Extended" Extended Cut. Before I begin I want to warn you all of one thing. There WILL BE deaths in this series, including some beloved characters from the games. I'm sorry if some of you might not approve of my choices. I don't like the idea of doing it but I feel it is going to be necessary to the story. But that's the beauty of the Mass Effect series. No one has to have the same head-canon of how the series plays out. My stories are just going to be one of potentially infinite ways the series could go after the last game. At any rate, I hope you enjoy this series as much as I am going to enjoy writing it.**

**Feedback, complimentary or critical, is welcomed.**

**Special thanks to Berserker79 for allowing me the use of his artwork for the cover image. The original artwork can be found on his deviantart account. Just search for the piece "Mass Effect - Marriage"**

**Disclaimer: The universe and many of the characters in this story are the creation and property of Bioware and EA games.**

* * *

**PART 1**

Inside an office in a secret underground bunker, a figure sat behind a desk scrolling through some images on a datapad. The images featured many individuals of different species. There were some asari, krogan, humans, a turian, and a quarian. When the figure got to an image of a particular human, anger filled their eyes. They wanted to smash the datapad after seeing the image but they were stopped by the sudden ringing sound coming from their comm. terminal.

"It's me," said a male voice that came from the terminal, "phase one is underway. Do you have any final orders?"

"No," the figure responded, "proceed as planned."

"Copy that. I will keep you updated as we progress."

With that said, the call ended and the figure turned their attention back to the image on the datapad. This time instead of their eyes filling with anger, a smile began to form. Afterwards they started laughing.

"It won't be long now," they said.

* * *

It had been three months since the end of the Reaper War. The repairs were still ongoing but many major ones had been completed. The most important repair that was recently completed was the mass relays. With the relays repaired, the soldiers who were scattered after the firing of the crucible could return to their home planets. Also the Citadel, the space station that housed the Citadel Council, had been moved back to the Serpent Nebula. The first act the Citadel Council did once peace had been established was to extend invitations to all the species that participated in the war to join the Council. Now every intelligent species in the galaxy holds a seat on the Council. After many millennia of war, all of the races could peacefully co-exist.

Although the galaxy is a more peaceful place following the war, gangs and mercenaries still existed and continued to cause trouble. Fortunately it was nothing that the galaxy's armed forces couldn't handle. For the major security risks, the Council would deploy their Spectre agents.

On board the SSV Normandy, the crew had gathered around the memorial wall on the crew deck. Each one of them had a look of sadness on their face. The person who probably had the saddest look was its commanding officer Captain Shepard. He had hoped that with the Reaper War being over he would finally get a break from having to add a friend's name to the wall. Unfortunately that was not the case today. He looked down at the plaque in his hand. It had the name of the next person to be added to it: Javik.

After gazing into his memory shard and reliving the death of his squad, Javik told Shepard in London that he had only one plan for after the Reaper War was over: to return to the place where his squad was laid to rest and take his own life so that he may join them. When the war ended, he stuck around for a while to see that Shepard had recovered from the injuries he sustained firing the Crucible. Javik then asked Shepard for some shore leave to go "visit some old friends." Shepard knew what friends he was talking about and what he was going to do when he got there but approved the request anyway. Javik had made up his mind and nothing Shepard could have said would change that. True to his word, Javik went to the Cronean Nebula. Once he found his squad's last resting place, he took out his sidearm, pointed it at his head, and pulled the trigger. The last Prothean was dead.

Even though Shepard knew Javik's death was coming, it didn't make it any easier for him to accept it. When he was done looking at the plaque, he placed it up on the memorial wall. He then took a step back and saluted. The rest of the crew did the same. When the salutes were dropped, Shepard dismissed the crew and everyone headed back to their posts. Shepard remained behind to stare at the wall a little longer. The wall just seemed to keep getting fuller every time he looked at it. He prayed that this would be the last name he would have to add for a long time. He was snapped out of his gaze when he felt a hand touch his shoulder.

"Are you going to be ok?"

It was his fiancée Lieutenant Commander Ashley Williams. After the two of them had gotten engaged, they made requests to both the Alliance and the Council for them to be allowed to continue to serve together on the Normandy. The Alliance couldn't see any reason for them not to allow it. Shepard and Ashley both were among the best soldiers they had and demonstrated incredible teamwork against the Reapers. The Council felt that it seemed only fitting to have their two human Spectres work together. As a result, Ashley remained on the Normandy as the new Executive Officer.

"I think so," Shepard replied, "it might take a while but I'll be all right."

"You know," Ashley said, "I can keep an eye on things if you want to go up to your cabin and rest for a bit."

"Yeah I could use it. Thanks Ash."

The two of them kissed and then Shepard got on the elevator and headed up to his cabin.

* * *

The first thing Shepard did when he got up to his cabin was put his Alliance dress uniform back in his closet. Lately it seemed like he almost dreaded putting it on. He preferred to wear his N7 leather jacket around the ship but would wear his dress uniform for important occasions. However, since he had been reinstated back when the Reaper War began, the only important occasions he wore it for were memorials. The only exception being the war summit with the turians, salarians and krogan but even that one was a rough day. The only thing that gave him comfort about his uniform was the fact that he would soon be wearing it on his and Ashley's wedding day.

Once his uniform was put away, Shepard noticed his reflection in the mirror. His scars seemed to be healing really well. He had been severely injured during the final battle against the Reapers. Between the rush to the Citadel beam in London and the firing of the Crucible, he should have been dead. Fortunately Ashley didn't give up hope that he could still be alive and led the team that found him on the Citadel. It had been touch and go but by a miracle Shepard survived. He was on bed rest for a month but had since been back on active duty.

Shepard headed straight for his bed. He gently laid himself down and looked up at the stars through the window on the ceiling. The view always made him smile a little. It used to be that every time he looked out into space he would think about the danger it was in because of the Reapers. Now that the Reapers had been defeated, he could just focus on the beauty of the view. With his smile growing and eyelids closing, Shepard drifted off to sleep.

"Captain," said a voice over the intercom, "are you still awake?"

Shepard's eyes shot back open when he heard the voice. It was Joker, the Normandy's helmsman.

"No thanks to you Joker," he said slightly frustrated.

"Sorry Captain. I really didn't want to disturb you but we have an urgent transmission coming in from the Citadel. Sir it's from Councilor Hackett."

That last sentence made Shepard snap awake. When the war ended, the Council had asked Admiral Steven Hackett to fill humanity's seat in recognition for his role as the commanding officer of the unified fleet that launched the final attack against the Reapers. He was initially hesitant but after a pep talk from Shepard, he agreed. Shepard had great respect for Hackett as a leader and knew he was a perfect fit for the job. If Hackett was calling Shepard, it was about something important and he needed to drop everything to take the call. He shot up from the bed and quickly put on his N7 jacket.

"I'll take it in the comm. room Joker," he said.

"Roger that," Joker replied.

* * *

Shepard arrived in the comm. room to be greeted by the projected image of Councilor Hackett. It was an unusual sight seeing Hackett not in his military uniform but his new role as councilor meant a new dress code.

"Good to see you again Captain Shepard," said Hackett.

"You too Councilor," Shepard said, "though I'm probably not a pretty sight right now."

"Yes your helmsman told me about the memorial you had for Javik. I'm sorry for your loss Captain."

"Thank you. What can I do for you sir?"

"We've got a situation brewing with the batarians. Their councilor is concerned that a splinter faction in his government might be planning an attack."

"What makes him think so?"

"As you are aware, the batarian Hegemony was severely decimated by the Reapers. We were fortunate that the few leaders that were left agreed to offer their support for the war effort. They were allowed to join the Council to show our gratitude. With Council support, the Hegemony was starting to come together again. Unfortunately there are some leaders who still hold grudges against the Council and the Alliance. They see joining the Council as a sign of surrender. The councilor is concerned they might launch an attack to force him to withdraw the batarians from the Council."

"Do we know any of the batarians who are in the splinter faction?"

"Yes and that is why I called you. The leader of the group is an old acquaintance of yours.

A chill ran up Shepard's spine. He had crossed paths with many batarian criminals during his time in the Alliance but there was only one who was still alive and only because Shepard had no choice but to let him go.

"Balak," he said through his grit teeth.

"Correct," Hackett said, "he was the highest ranking officer in the Hegemony until he started insisting that with the Reapers gone, the batarians should fight to achieve dominance over the entire galaxy. He said that he only agreed to have his troops join our war effort because the Reapers were the biggest threat to the batarians at the time and he was willing to work with us to defeat them. Fortunately the rest of the batarians didn't agree and removed him from power. Now he talks about getting revenge on his people for betraying him. Recently the councilor got word that Balak might be gathering supplies to follow through with his threat. The Council is tasking you with uncovering his plan and stopping it."

Shepard snapped to attention and saluted, "Yes sir."

"Good luck Captain. Hackett out."


	2. 1-2

The day after Hackett's call, Shepard was on board the Kodiak shuttle heading for Illium. Ashley was sitting next to him. They were in the middle of a call with Liara T'Soni. An asari and former archeologist, she was a former squad mate of Shepard's and one of his closest friends. Unknown to all but a few, Shepard among the few, she worked as the Shadow Broker. The Shadow Broker was the name given to an enigmatic and powerful information broker. Shepard had helped Liara take down the previous Shadow Broker after the broker was revealed to be working with the Collectors. Liara took over the position to use the broker's resources in the fight against the Reapers. She now serves as Shepard's most trusted source of information for his Spectre missions.

"What are we looking for here Liara?" Shepard asked.

"A turian merchant named Illo Corin," Liara replied, "I've been tracking Balak's finances from the last few days and have found that he made a purchase from Corin's shop on Illium. I haven't been able to find out what Balak purchased specifically because the transaction records only show the money. I'm guessing the merchandise is something illegal and Corin wants to keep it hidden. If we're going to have any chance of figuring out what Balak is planning, we need to find out what Corin sold him."

"I doubt we can just walk up to him and ask what kind of stuff he carries," Ashley said.

"Exactly. You don't have to worry though. I went ahead and recruited an expert who can help you."

"What kind of expert?" Shepard asked.

Before Liara could answer, Lieutenant Steve Cortez, Shepard's shuttle pilot, called out from his seat at the front of the shuttle.

"Captain," he said, "we are about to touch down on Illium."

"Copy that Lieutenant," Shepard responded.

"The expert will meet you once you're on the ground," Liara continued, "she will go over the plan with you then."

"She?"

"Liara out."

Before Shepard could stop her, Liara cut the communication. Ashley sighed.

"Has she always been this vague whenever she gives you information?" she asked.

"Not always," Shepard replied.

After Cortez landed the shuttle, Shepard and Ashley stepped out onto the bustling world of Illium. It had been more than a year since the last time Shepard was on Illium. During his mission against the Collectors, he had to put together a strong team to go on what was more than likely going to be a suicide mission. He came to Illium to recruit two potential squad members. Later he would return to help his XO on that mission, Miranda Lawson. Miranda's father had hired Eclipse mercenaries to abduct her sister who was living on Illium. With Shepard's help, Miranda rescued her sister before that could happen. It was hard to believe what could change in a year.

Illium was one of the elite financial planets. All kinds of deals went down on the planet. Unfortunately not all of them were legal. To some, Illium was like Omega in terms of how laws were regulated. The only difference between the two was Illium at least looked respectable. Now that wasn't the case.

The Reapers didn't spare Illium the destruction it delivered every other planet. It still had an upscale look to it but now was covered with rubble. In spite of this, business seemed to be booming. It reminded Shepard of how people tried to go about their business like there wasn't a war going on. Now people go about their business to forget the war happened.

Shepard and Ashley scanned the crowd looking for the expert but it was no use. Liara only told them the expert was a woman. She didn't give them a name or a description. There were plenty of women in the crowd making it that much difficult. They began to walk around to search the area when suddenly they heard a voice.

"Captain Shepard," the voice said, "enter the password and receive a free gift."

Shepard turned to the source of the voice. It was coming from a galactic news vid screen. There was no face on the screen but Shepard didn't need to see a face to know who it was. He heard that same exact phrase when he recruited master thief Kasumi Goto for the Collector mission. Add that to him recognizing her voice, there was no doubt that it was Kasumi.

"Silence is golden," he said.

"There's an observation deck at your nine o'clock. I'm sitting on one of the benches there," Kasumi replied.

Ashley turned to face towards the observation deck benches. A look of confusion appeared on her face.

"Skipper," she said, "there's no one there."

"She's there," Shepard replied, "she's just using her tactical cloak."

"You know me so well Shep," Kasumi said as she turned off her cloak making her appear to materialize out of thin air. She rose up from the bench she was sitting on and started walking toward Shepard and Ashley.

"Good to see you again Kasumi," Shepard said shaking Kasumi's hand, "you remember Ashley from my party."

"Yes and I believe congratulations are in order. I heard that you two got engaged after the war ended."

"Thank you," Ashley said, "you know I wanted to send you an invitation to the wedding but you're a hard person to locate."

"Sorry about that but I wouldn't last long as a thief if I was easy to find."

"True. Well you can consider yourself invited."

Shepard rolled his eyes. As happy as he was for Kasumi to finally be officially invited to the wedding, he wasn't thrilled with talking about it. He promised Ashley that he would help as much as possible with the wedding planning. A promise he later regretted after the first few weeks. If he had known how much planning was going to be involved, he would never have made the promise. It was obvious to Ashley that Shepard was getting bored with the planning but she never let on. Secretly she enjoyed torturing him. Shepard knew he was going to have to head off this discussion fast otherwise they were never going to get to the mission.

"Okay ladies," interrupted Shepard, "let's save the wedding talk until after the mission is over. If you're our expert Kasumi I'm guessing that this mission is going to require either infiltration, theft or both."

"In this case it's both," Kasumi replied, "but let's go to my hotel before we talk about it more. There are too many eyes and ears around here."

* * *

Kasumi led Shepard and Ashley into her room. The hotel was a high class one but the room Kasumi rented was one of their smaller ones. It featured two bedrooms, a bathroom and a living room. She said that to rent a larger room is like sending an open invitation for a thief to come and rob it. Given that Kasumi was a thief she would know what looked inviting to one.

The first thing Shepard noticed when they entered the room was Kasumi's graybox sitting on a desk. The graybox originally belonged to Kasumi's former partner-in-crime and lover Keiji Okuda. After crime lord Donovan Hock killed Keiji, the graybox was all that Kasumi had to remember him by. Shepard was glad the graybox could help Kasumi relive memories of her time with Keiji but secretly he was worried that she might be spending too much time plugged into it. There had been some rumors that the reason grayboxes were illegal in most places was because overusing them could lead to a user losing the ability to discern what was real and what wasn't.

Once everyone was settled, Kasumi pulled out a datapad from a desk drawer. She tapped a few buttons and suddenly a holographic image of warehouse appeared.

"I already did some preliminary casing on Corin," Kasumi began, "I've determined that all of his goods come from his warehouse that he owns on the other side of town. The warehouse is three stories high. The first two stories contain multiple rooms where he keeps his goods. The third story has some office rooms. That is where our target is located. One of those offices is Corin's and he more than likely keeps the records of his transactions on his terminal. Unfortunately the building has all the basic security measures. The building is wired with cameras, tripwires and there are several dozen guards patrolling the building."

Shepard chuckled, "Here I was thinking that you were going to tell use that this was going to be a challenge. Getting the graybox from Hock's mansion was more dangerous than this. Hock had the basic security measures as well as security mechs and a gunship. If anything those were the most difficult things to deal with."

"True," Kasumi continued, "but our problem is not what happens if something goes wrong. Our problem is in this case, there is no room for something to go wrong. Corin's terminal is linked to the warehouse's security system. If any alarm is triggered, a program is launched that will wipe any and all data he has stored on it. This has to be a 100% stealth mission."

"And there's the catch," Shepard sighed.

"Yeah," Ashley said, "we're not exactly known for being discreet."

"That's why Liara asked for my help," Kasumi said, "I am an expert on avoiding detection. However my skills can only cover so many bases. I can take out all the security measures but the guards can trigger the alarm too. That's where you two come in. While I take out the security measures, you will make sure guards don't get a chance to call an alarm."

"Okay," Shepard said, "we know what we have to do. Let's begin our preparations. We hit the warehouse tonight."

* * *

As the sun set outside the window, Shepard and Ashley were in one of the bedrooms packing the rest of their combat gear. Kasumi was in the other bedroom gathering up the last of her hacking equipment. Once she was done she headed for Shepard and Ashley's room. Suddenly a voice called out to her.

"Kasumi."

Kasumi froze in her place. She knew that voice anywhere. But how was she hearing it? The person it belonged to was dead. Then it called her again.

"Kasumi."

This time Kasumi turned towards where she thought she heard the voice. Her mouth dropped open. Standing in front of her was Keiji. She quickly reached to her head and found that her graybox display was not up. This was not a graybox image of Keiji she was seeing. Could it actually be Keiji? She started walking towards him.

"Kasumi?"

A different voice called Kasumi's name. She turned and saw that Shepard was standing in the doorway of his room. Quickly glancing back to where she saw Keiji, she saw that he wasn't there anymore.

"Is everything okay?" Shepard asked.

Kasumi didn't answer right away. She was unsure of what to say. Finally she decided that what had just happened was not worth mentioning. She gave a simple nod to indicate she was okay.

"I was just coming to say that I'm ready to go when you are," she said.

"Okay," Shepard replied, "I'll go tell Williams. We move in five."

Shepard went back into the bedroom leaving Kasumi to her thoughts. Keiji was dead. Yet he just appeared in her room. Was she losing her mind? She couldn't be. She knew what she saw. Her eyes have never lied to her before. And yet, she just didn't know.


	3. 1-3

The sky had become completely dark by the time the trio had arrived at Corin's warehouse. Shepard set the skycar down behind some crates half a mile from the warehouse. Ashley was the first one out. She pulled out her sniper rifle and began scoping out the perimeter of the warehouse.

"I don't see any guards patrolling the main entrance," she said, "but there are at least three cameras. They have one just above the entrance and one on each corner."

Shepard pulled out his sniper rifle and could see that Ashley was right. He then switched his scope to thermal mode. There were three orange figures moving around on the other side of the door.

"My thermal scope is picking up at least three hostiles just inside," he said, "if we're going to get in undetected we need to do something with precision timing."

"Do you have a plan skipper?" Ashley asked.

"No but that's why we brought the expert," Shepard said looking over at Kasumi.

"You always say the nicest things Shep," said Kasumi, "you are right about the timing. I can't take out all of the cameras before one of them spots us. If that's the case, then our best bet is to wait for the one camera I don't hack to start to turn away. Once it does we'll have about ten seconds for me to hack the other two so we can get through the door."

"And once we get through the door Williams and I will take out the three guards before they have a chance to react," Shepard added.

"Sounds like a plan," Ashley said, "let's do it."

They watched as the camera on the far left corner of the building turn to face towards the door. Once it did, they moved around the front corner and lined up against the wall. Kasumi was at the front. She peeked around the corner and looked towards the other camera at the far corner. She turned towards Shepard and held up eight fingers indicating they had eight seconds before they launched their plan. Shepard took one last look through his thermal scope. The guards were still in the same positions when he checked before they moved. He turned back to Kasumi as the last of her fingers folded down.

Kasumi quickly turned the corner and pulled up her omni-tool. After a few quick button pushes, the camera directly above her powered down. She pushed a few more buttons and then the camera directly above the door went down. Shepard tapped Kasumi's shoulder to indicate he and Ashley were coming around her. He and Ashley headed for the door. Once they were in position, Shepard tapped the button to open the door.

The guards inside barely had time to react to the door opening. Once it opened all the way, Shepard and Ashley already had their guns up and fired. Shepard took out two and Ashley took out the other. They kept their weapons up in case anyone came to investigate the noise. After a few seconds, no one else had entered the room. Kasumi was right behind them.

"I'm not picking up any alarms," she said, "I'd say we've had a successful infiltration."

"All right," Shepard said, "we continue according to plan, slow and steady."

"Copy skipper," Ashley said.

Shepard and Ashley began moving when Kasumi called out to them.

"Wait," she said, "I have to ask. You two are engaged but Ashley is still calling you skipper Shep. If anything I figured she would be one of the few people who called you by your first name."

Shepard chuckled, "We have an agreement that whenever we're on a mission we will be professional when we interact with each other. You've probably also noticed I've been calling her Williams."

"That makes sense but what are you going to do when you're married? I'm assuming Ashley that you are taking Shepard's name."

Ashley replied, "even though I'll legally be Ashley Shepard, I will still be called Williams in the field. Don't worry Kasumi we've thought of everything."

"All right people," Shepard interrupted, "let's keep moving."

The trio moved single file through the building. Shepard was on point. His gun leveled as he scouted for hostiles. Kasumi followed not too far behind them. Unlike Shepard, she was scouting for defenses. Ashley took up the rear watching their backs. For a while they hadn't run into any obstacles. Shepard figured it was because they were staying out of the storage room. Most of the guards would be there guarding Corin's merchandise. However he felt that once they got closer to Corin's office the security would get tighter.

They entered a stairwell to head to the third floor. Before Shepard could take the first step up, Kasumi suddenly reached her arm across Shepard's chest, stopping him in his tracks.

"What is it Kasumi?" he asked.

"Tripwires," Kasumi replied, "some of the steps have lasers going across them."

Shepard looked down. He couldn't see any lasers but that didn't mean they weren't there. A quick glance at the walls found the source. Corin was clever. He didn't put the source on the wall directly next to the stairs. Instead he put it on the opposite wall and placed it so it shone through gaps in the railings. Shepard glanced further up the wall. There were other laser sources scattered along it.

"Kasumi is it possible for us to simply step over the lasers?" he asked.

Kasumi's eyes scanned the stairs, "we would have to be really careful but I think we can. My guess is Corin purposely spaced them so that it his guards could walk through here without having to deactivate the lasers."

"I'll go first. Once I'm a couple of steps up, Kasumi follows then Williams. Let's give each other some space. We'll each take one step at a time, one person at a time so we don't bunch up."

"Got it," Ashley and Kasumi said in unison.

Slowly and steadily they made their way up the steps. It took them a few minutes for them to reach the third floor. Shepard was about to open the door when suddenly a noise came from below them. Everyone froze. Somebody else was in the stairwell with them. Ashley raised her rifle looking down the stairs waiting for them to come up. Shepard made a noise to get her attention. When she turned to face him, she saw him shaking his head. She realized that he was right. If she shot whoever it was, they would fall down the stairs and trip one of the lasers and the mission would be over. There was nothing they could do but remain still, quiet and hope that the guard didn't continue up the stairs to the third floor.

After what felt like hours, the sound of a door opening and closing echoed through the stairwell. The trio waited to be sure the guard was gone. When they didn't hear any other sounds, Shepard figured that it was safe proceed. He opened the door and exited the stairwell onto the third floor. Ashley and Kasumi were about to follow him out when suddenly Shepard came back in nearly knocking them over. He was breathing heavily.

"Camera down the hall," he said in between breaths, "it almost made me."

Kasumi activated her stealth cloak and stepped in front of Shepard and slowly poked her head out the door. She could see the camera mounted above a door in the hallway. She stepped further into the hall and saw that the door was to Corin's office. The sound of footsteps from behind her got her attention. When she turned around, she saw a guard had just turned a corner and was walking towards her. He infiltration cloak made her invisible but the guard would be able to hear her footsteps if she made a break for the staircase. The guard was now inches from her.

Suddenly, two hands reached out from the stairwell and pulled the guard out of the hallway. Kasumi heard what sounded like a brief struggle. Then the sounds ceased completely. Kasumi remained still waiting for someone to appear in the stairwell. Finally Ashley appeared in the doorway.

"Everything okay out there?' she asked.

"I think it is now," Kasumi replied, "everything good in there?"

"Shepard and I are good. I can't say the same for our friend. I think he's going to be out for a while."

"Good. I think we're all clear now."

"Roger that," Shepard said, "disable the camera and we'll head into the office."

A few button pushes later and the camera over Corin's office door shut down. The trio lined themselves up against the door. Shepard and Kasumi lined up on one side of the door and Ashley lined up on the other. Shepard gave Ashley a nod and Ashley tapped the button to open the door. The minute it was open, Shepard and Ashley walked into the office with their rifles raised. A quick scan of the room detected no movements in the office. Corin wasn't here. Shepard turned toward Kasumi and nodded towards the computer terminal on the desk. Kasumi headed to the desk and went to work on the terminal.

"I'm in," she said, "Pulling up his sales records and…got it. Take a look."

Shepard and Ashley stepped around the desk to look at the terminal. Kasumi stepped back to give them room. Suddenly a voice came from outside the office.

"Kasumi."

It was Keiji's voice again. Just like Kasumi heard back at her hotel room. Every fiber of her being was telling her to ignore the voice. Keiji was dead so there was no way he could be calling her name. All she had to do was just stay in the office and wait for Shepard to finish analyzing the info on the terminal.

"Kasumi."

The voice came again. It sounded louder than the last one, almost as if Keiji was out in the hallway walking towards the office. Then he appeared. Keiji stepped into the doorway. He stood there for several seconds before he raised his arm and used his finger to gesture Kasumi to follow him. He continued to make the gesture as he stepped out of the doorway back into the hall. Kasumi reached for her head to discover once again that this wasn't a graybox image she was seeing. Curiosity was starting to get the better of Kasumi and she started walking out of the office. Shepard was finishing pulling info from the terminal when he looked up to see Kasumi walking out.

"Kasumi?" he said concerned.

This time Kasumi didn't snap out of her trance. She assumed that the voice she was hearing was Keiji's.

"I'm coming Keiji," she called out.

"Kasumi?!" Shepard called as he raced around the desk to try and stop Kasumi from leaving the office.

He was too late.


	4. 1-4

Kasumi had walked out of the office and came face to face with Corin himself. Corin didn't take long to pull a remote from his pocket and pushed a button. Alarms began blaring all across the warehouse. The alarms snapped Kasumi out of her trance. Once she saw that Corin was in front of him, she instinctively threw a right hook across his face. Corin fell to the floor unconscious. Shepard was now in the hallway with them. Keeping his gun trained on Corin, he bent down to confirm that Corin was still breathing. Once he felt a pulse, he rose up and checked both ends of the hall for any other hostiles.

"Don't worry about the alarm," he said to Kasumi, "we already have the information we need. The alarms do mean we're going to need to change our extraction plan."

"Yeah," Ashley said, "with the guards on alert I don't think we can go out the way we came in."

Shepard touched his ear and activated his comm., "Cortez we've been compromised. We need an emergency extraction."

"Copy that Captain," Cortez said over the comm., "head on up to the roof and I will pick you up there with the Kodiak, ETA ten minutes."

"Copy that. Williams, grab Corin. We should bring him with us. Cortez is going to meet us on the roof. Most of the guards will be on the lower levels. If we hurry we can get to the roof and set up a defensive position before the guards catch up to us."

"Aye-aye skipper," Ashley said as she began to pick up Corin into a fireman's carry.

The trio raced for the stairway to the roof. Shepard barely got the door open when suddenly a voice came from down the hall.

"Hold it right there!"

Shepard turned to see two guards come around a corner at the end of the hallway. He quickly waved Ashley and Kasumi through the door. Once they were through, Shepard raised his rifle and began giving cover fire. The guards retreated back around the corner. After Ashley and Kasumi had gone up the first two flights of stairs, Shepard entered the stairwell and closed the door behind him. He raced after Ashley and Kasumi while trying to put as much distance as possible between him and the guards.

The night sky greeted Shepard when he went through the door at the top of the stairs. According to the time in his head, Cortez was still five minutes out. Five minutes was more than enough time for the guards to reach the roof and attack. Shepard and Ashley were going to have to work together to hold them back. Kasumi was a good shot as well but Shepard was not sure how much she could help. Something was off with her and it made Shepard uneasy. If they got out of their current predicament alive, he was going to have a talk with her about it.

The ladies were hiding behind a ventilation shaft that ran along the roof. Ashley had set Corin down beside her. Kasumi was sitting down still looking out of it. Shepard joined them behind the shaft. Ashley turned to face Kasumi and then back to Shepard. She looked concerned as well.

"What's going on skipper?" she asked, "Kasumi looks like she's in another world."

Shepard nodded, "I know I noticed it too. I've got an idea what it might be but we can't worry about that right now. Those guards will be on us any second and Cortez is still a few minutes out. You and I will have to hold them off by ourselves until he gets here."

Immediately after Shepard finished his statement, guards burst through the stairway door and opened fire. Shepard and Ashley ducked behind the shaft. Bullets flew over their heads just after they hit the floor. The guards had them pinned down and were no doubt moving to flank them. With the guard's constant firing, Shepard and Ashley couldn't get up to fire back. Something needed to get the guards to stop firing but what?

Suddenly Shepard remembered that among Kasumi's equipment were a couple of flash grenades. It wouldn't kill the guards but it might disorient them long enough for Shepard and Ashley to fight back. Shepard reached towards Kasumi's belt and fished in the pouches for the grenades. This was enough to snap Kasumi out of her trance.

"What are you doing Shep?" she asked.

"Sorry Kasumi," Shepard replied, "but I need some of your flash bangs."

Shepard pulled his hand out of the pouch and found it held two flash grenades. He handed one to Ashley and held up his hand to give her a countdown.

Five…Four…Three…Two…One.

Once the countdown reached zero, Shepard threw his grenade. The guards retreated thinking it was a frag grenade. They didn't notice that Ashley was now throwing her grenade. It landed right in front of the guards as they ran away. The grenades went off shortly after. The flash that followed blinded every guard on the roof. Shepard and Ashley stood up with their weapons raised and began firing. One by one the guards fell.

As the last of the guards fell, Kasumi looked over the shaft and saw more guards were coming up the stairs. Shepard and Ashley were focused on the guards already on the roof and didn't see the others coming. Kasumi knew she had to do something. Still slightly shaking, she pulled out her Kassa Locust sub-machine gun. Before the first guard could exit the stairwell, Kasumi had her gun aimed at them and fired.

Shepard and Ashley were now aware of the other guards and focused their aim towards the stairwell. The trio started alternating between who was firing. While one fired, the others put in new thermal clips so that they would not have a break in their fire thus giving the guards no chance to come onto the roof.

The cycle continued for a few minutes when Cortez's voice came over Shepard's comm. informing him that he was coming in for extraction. Shepard turned to see the Kodiak setting down onto the roof a short distance behind them. Shepard tapped Kasumi on the shoulder to tell her that when she was done firing to head for the shuttle. Ashley bent down to pick up Corin. Once Kasumi reached the shuttle, she started firing again to cover Ashley and Corin's approach to the shuttle. As soon as they were on the shuttle, Ashley set Corin down and fired her weapon to cover Shepard. With all three of them now on board, Shepard closed the hatch and ordered Cortez to take off. The shuttle lifted off the roof and flew away. The guards continued firing at the shuttle but it was no use. The shuttle was gone.

* * *

Kasumi was sitting in her seat on the shuttle looking down at the floor. She could feel Shepard standing over her. He was leaning near the door to the cockpit and his arms were crossed. He didn't say anything but just started at Kasumi. Ashley was sitting across from Kasumi staring at her as well. Finally the silence was too much for Kasumi.

"Go ahead and say it," she said, "I screwed up. The great master thief Kasumi Goto finally got caught. You both could have died because of me. You know if you don't want me to come to your wedding anymore I'll understand. Just drop me off in the city and you will never have to see me again. Maybe I can at least make myself hidden from you."

Shepard just bowed his head, "Kasumi we got the data we need and we got Corin. It might not have been a smooth run but we covered our mistakes and we accomplished our mission. I'm not worried about that. I'm more worried about you. Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine. I'm still shaken up about the mission going south but it's nothing I won't get over."

"That's not the real reason you're shaken up though is it?"

Kasumi didn't answer. Part of her knew that she had to tell Shepard what was going on but what could she say? Even she didn't know what was going on. Shepard would probably just think that she was going crazy. Crazy? Was she going crazy?

"Kasumi," Shepard finally said, "I heard you calling out for Keiji just before you walked out of the office."

"That's impossible," Kasumi said a little flustered, "Keiji is dead."

"Then why did you call out to him?"

"I didn't."

"You did," Ashley said, "I heard you say it as well."

Kasumi got up from her seat. She took a few steps as she thought about what to say. Tears were forming in her eyes. There was no choice now. Both Shepard and Ashley have noticed her acting strange. She had to tell them the truth. She prayed that they wouldn't think she was crazy.

"I saw him," she said sobbing, "I heard him calling my name and I looked up and there he was standing in the doorway. He wanted me to follow him. I told myself it was impossible. He was dead so he couldn't be there. But then I realized my graybox display wasn't on. I was seeing him with my own eyes. So I followed him. I barely get out the door and there was Corin instead of Keiji."

"Did you see him in the hotel room too?" Shepard asked.

"Yes. What's happening to me Shep?"

"Kasumi how often do you use the graybox.""

"What's that got to do with this?"

"How often do you use it?"

"At least twice a day, Keiji is the first thing I see in the morning and the last thing I see before I go to bed."

"You said 'at least' twice a day. Do you sometimes use it more than that?"

"Any chance I can."

Shepard sighed. He was afraid she would say that. He walked over to Kasumi and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Kasumi," he said, "you can't keep this up. You've used the graybox so many times that you can't tell what's real and what isn't. I think you have to destroy the graybox."

"I….can't," Kasumi sobbed, "it's all I have left of Keiji."

"You don't need a graybox to remember all the times you've spent with Keiji. They will always be in your heart. He told you in his last message to destroy the graybox. At first I thought it was just to protect the information he had on it from falling into the wrong hands but now I think it was because he was afraid that this would happen to you if you kept it. I'm sorry Kasumi but destroying the graybox seems to be the only way for you to get better."

"No," Kasumi said as she turned away from Shepard.

Shepard was about to put his hand back on her shoulder but thought against it. He needed to give her some space.

"We still have a mission to do," he said, "think about what I said and we'll talk once the mission is complete."

Shepard took a seat next to Ashley who reached over and grabbed his hand. Shepard could tell that Ashley was worried too. Unfortunately there was nothing they could do to help Kasumi just yet. Balak was still out there and needed to be stopped. Once they were back on the Normandy, they would question Corin about the info they found on his terminal. Hopefully he would be able to lead them to Balak.


	5. 1-5

"Hello?! Is anyone out there?! I demand to know why you are keeping me here?!"

Corin was in a pitch-black room tied to a chair. It felt like he had been in there for at least an hour since he woke up. The last thing he remembered was going to his office, running into a suspicious woman and triggering the alarm. After that it all went black. The sound of engines was the hint he needed to figure out where he was. He had to be on a ship.

Suddenly lights turned on and Corin realized he was in some kind of a cargo hold. Some of the crates in the cargo hold had the logo of the Earth System's Alliance. He concluded that he was on an Alliance ship. He was about to call out again when the door opened and a man walked into the room. The man had a datapad in his hand. Corin didn't have to think long to realize who it was.

"Captain Shepard," he said, "I might have guessed that you would be the one shooting up my warehouse."

"Nice to meet you too Corin," Shepard said, "for the record I didn't want to shoot up your warehouse but it got complicated when you set off the alarm."

"What do you want from me?"

"I know that you sold some merchandise to a batarian named Ka'hairal Balak. I broke into your warehouse to find out what you sold him."

"I'm a merchant. Selling merchandise is what I do and what I sell and who to is none of your business."

"It is my business when your client is a terrorist. Whatever Balak bought from you I don't think he has good intentions for it."

"What my clients decide to do with my merchandise is not my concern."

Shepard held up the datapad and tapped a few buttons. He found the transaction records that he was looking for and held the datapad up to Corin's face.

"Maybe not," he said, "but the fact that your merchandise includes some items that are illegal for distribution should be a concern of yours. According to the records we got from your terminal, you sold Balak an electromagnetic pulse bomb. Those are in fact illegal and in the hands of someone like Balak could lead to a lot of people dying. The only thing that the records don't tell me is where you sent the bomb."

"Then I guess you will never know," Corin said, "because I'm not telling you a thing. I know you Alliance types. You're all a bunch of soft hearted, lousy excuse for soldiers who follow all the laws even if they keep you from putting criminals away."

A sly smile spread across Shepard's face. This was exactly what he was hoping Corin would say. Shepard started walking to the back of Corin's chair.

"Actually Corin," Shepard said, "I'm not acting on behalf of the Alliance. I'm actually working this case as a Council Spectre."

Corin was now starting to get a little nervous. Everyone in the galaxy knew that the Council gave the Spectres complete leeway to do what they felt was necessary to accomplish their missions. Some stories told of Spectres torturing criminals, destroying colonies and even murdering civilians. Would Shepard resort to similar tactics to get the information he wanted?

"You know Corin," Shepard continued, "I think it's about time for me to take out the trash."

Shepard began pushing Corin's chair towards the garbage chute at the back of the room. Once they reached the chute, he tilted Corin forward so that Corin's head was angled down into the chute. Corin was protesting the whole time.

"YOU CAN'T DO THIS!' he screamed. "I KNOW MY RIGHTS! THIS IS ILLEAGL! YOU'RE ABUSING A SUSPECT!"

"Maybe you didn't hear what I said," Shepard said, "I'm a Council Spectre. I can conduct my investigation however I want. If it leaves a body count, it doesn't matter. Do you want to be a part of that count? TELL ME WHERE THE BOMB WAS SENT!

"You…you won't kill me," Corin stuttered.

"Strike one," Shepard said as he cut one of the ropes holding Corin to the chair, "on the third strike you won't have any rope to keep you from falling down the chute."

"OKAY!" Corin screamed. "Okay. Balak had me send the bomb to Khar'shan, the batarian homeworld."

"Did he tell you what he was planning to do with the bomb?"

"I don't know. I already told you I don't care what my customers do with my products."

"Strike two," Shepard said as he cut another rope. Corin was now dangling in his chair with the one strand of rope barely keeping him from falling down the chute.

"I SWEAR I DON'T KNOW!" Corin screamed, practically begging. "DON'T LET ME FALL! PLEASE I'M BEGGING YOU!"

"THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE CORIN! WHAT IS BALAK GOING TO DO WITH THE BOMB?!"

"ALL RIGHT I'LL TALK! He's going to use it to disable security at the capitol city. From there he's going to launch an assault on the presidential palace and assassinate Grothan Pazness."

Shepard knew that name. Grothan Pazness was originally a governor of a batarian colony on Camala. He was an outspoken critic against the Alliance believing that they were responsible for the destruction of batarian comm. buoys when in fact the Reapers destroyed them. After Shepard and the Normandy rescued him from his world, he underwent a dramatic conversion. For the remainder of the Reaper War, he released daily extranet videos urging his fellow batarians to embrace all Citadel races as comrades in arms. When the war was over and Balak had been deposed, Pazness agreed to become the new Supreme Leader of the Batarian Hegemony. His actions were the main force behind the batarians joining the Council and being welcomed into the galactic community.

Shepard quickly pulled Corin's chair back and threw him to other side of the room. When the chair stopped moving, all Corin could do was sit in the chair panting and shaking. Shepard also thought that he heard Corin muttering "you're crazy" over and over. He didn't care. The important thing was he got all the information he needed to take Balak down. Shepard walked out of the cargo hold leaving Corin to continue muttering. Ashley was waiting for him just outside. She had a small smile on her face but Shepard couldn't help but get the feeling that she was a bit concerned about something.

"You okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she replied, "but honestly you scared me a little bit there. If I didn't know you better I would have thought you were going to throw him down the chute.

"Well then I guess it's a good thing you do know me better. I may be a Spectre but unlike some of our counterparts I need a better reason other than the fact a suspect is a scumbag before I decide to kill them."

Ashley's smile grew, "you're right. I'm sorry. You still are a true hero-man."

"Isn't that what you love about me?"

Ashley wrapped her arms around Shepard's neck, "that among other things."

Shepard leaned in to kiss Ashley but then stopped.

"What?" Ashley asked.

"Sorry Ash," Shepard replied, "but this is going to have to wait. Now that we know what Balak is up to we need to get Khar'shan."

"Joker has already plotted a course and Traynor is trying to get through to the presidential palace to warn them about Balak's plan."

"Let's just pray we're not too late. I'm going to tell Kasumi to get her gear together and meet us in the shuttle bay."

The smile on Ashley's face disappeared.

"What's wrong?" Shepard asked.

"I'm worried about her. I know we need her help but what if she starts seeing things while we're down there."

"She'll be fine. You and I will have her back. After the mission is over though, I don't know. Unfortunately we can't worry about that right now. We need to focus on saving Pazness first. I'll see you in the shuttle bay."

* * *

Within a few hours, the Kodiak had entered Khar'shan's atmosphere and was speeding towards the capitol city. Shepard was in the co-pilots seat with Cortez next to him. Ashley and Kasumi were sitting in the passenger compartment. Nobody had said a word since the shuttle left the Normandy. Everyone on board was worried to talk to Kasumi who sat in her seat rocking back and forth. She may have now known that seeing Keiji was an illusion but the possibility that she might see him again was keeping her on edge. Suddenly everyone on the shuttle rocked towards the front when it came to a sudden stop.

"Why are we stopping Lieutenant?" Shepard asked Cortez.

"We're at the minimum safe distance from the bomb," Cortez replied, "if I bring the Kodiak any closer and the bomb goes off, I won't be able to keep her airborne."

Shepard understood what Cortez said but he didn't like it. He sat back in his chair and started thinking. He had heard from Traynor that she had been unable to reach the presidential palace to warn them about the attack. The only thing Shepard could think of that made sense was that the terrorists were jamming communications. That meant they were about to or had already launched the attack. If they waited for the bomb to go off, there was no telling how long they had afterwards to stop Balak before he killed Pazness. There was only one option and it was a risky one. Then again, risky options were what Shepard excelled at.

"We have to get closer," Shepard said.

Everyone in the shuttle looked towards Shepard.

"But captain," Cortez started to say.

"If we wait for the bomb to go off, Pazness will be dead before we get to the palace. Cortez I remember you landed this shuttle in one piece after being struck by the Leviathan's pulse…twice. Not only that but you managed to survive getting shot down by a harvester during the Battle for Earth. I know you and I know you are capable of landing this bird safely even if the pulse hits us. We may have to go the rest of the way on foot but at least we would be closer to the palace."

Cortez looked down and away from Shepard giving it some thought. Ashley and Kasumi looked at each other unsure of who they should side with. Finally Cortez looked back up at his controls with a new look of determination.  
"Let's do it," he said.

Shepard turned back towards the passenger compartment, "you better buckle up back there. If we go down it's going to be rough."

Ashley and Kasumi strapped into their seats just as Cortez launched the Kodiak full speed towards the palace. As the shuttle flew on, Shepard was silently chanting "come on" over and over praying that they would get to the palace before the bomb detonated. He was starting to breathe a little easier once he had a visual of the palace. Then it happened.

The first thing Shepard saw was bright flash of light coming from the palace. It faded quickly but Shepard knew what he saw. The bomb had detonated. Then the shuttle shook violently as the systems shut down. Shepard could see that the palace was still fast approaching. He turned to Cortez who gave him a quick nod. That gave Shepard all the confidence he needed. Cortez knew that he was going to get them there. Shepard braced himself for impact.

The shuttle landed on the roof of the palace like a twenty-first century airplane. Unfortunately because it didn't have the landing gear that they did, it slid uncontrollably across the roof. As it slid, Shepard noticed that Cortez was starting to panic. Shepard looked ahead and realized why. The roof was not long enough to allow the shuttle to come to a stop before falling off. Shepard ordered everyone to abandon ship. One by one they jumped off the shuttle with Shepard being the last to jump. The shuttle fell off the roof shortly afterwards crashing into some trees below. Once everyone got back on their feet, they raised their weapons and did a quick survey for any reaction to the crash.

"Well if they didn't know we were coming before I'm sure that crash got their attention," Ashley said.

"Right but at least that buys us time to find Pazness," Shepard said.

"How do you figure that?" Kasumi asked.

"I know Balak. He'll use Pazness as a hostage to buy time to work out an escape plan."

"That's how he got away from us last time," Ashley said.

"And we're not going to let him do it again. Lieutenant, radio the Normandy and get us some backup down here."

"You got it Captain," Cortez replied, "I'll wait here on the roof for them. Plus if the terrorists want to meet an escape vehicle up here I can ambush them."

"Good. Williams, Kasumi, let's move. We've got a politician to save."

"Aye-aye skipper," Ashley said.

"Right behind you Shep," Kasumi said.

The trio headed for the roof access hatch and climbed down into the palace.


	6. 1-6

Shepard was the first one down the hatch. Once he hit the floor he turned his rifle's flashlight on and scanned the room. Ashley and Kasumi followed suit. After determining the room was clear, Shepard opened a door allowing Ashley and Kasumi to scout the hallway. The sight that greeted them was not a pretty one.

Bodies of palace security guards were scattered throughout the hallway. Each one was riddled with several bullet holes. But something else got Shepard's attention. Some of the bodies were not security guards. He could tell because they were not wearing the uniforms the guards wore. It was bad news to see the guards dead but it was good to know that some of Balak's men were dead too. This meant there would be fewer terrorists for them to deal with.

Besides the bodies, the only other items in the hallway were rows of statues on pedestals. Before Shepard could enter the hallway with the ladies, Ashley tapped her ear. She could hear something.

They all listened and could hear voices coming at the end of the hallway. Shepard turned off his flashlight and ordered everyone to get behind cover. The statues provided it easily. Shepard peaked around the statue he was hiding behind and saw two batarians coming down the hallway. It was dark but Shepard could see that they were not wearing palace guard uniforms. They had to be some of Balak's remaining men. He was about to give some signals to Ashley and Kasumi but then something else caught his attention. The dark still made it hard to see many details but something about the terrorists' clothes was triggering a warning bell in his head. Before he could place it, he heard something that sounded like an air leak. It was Ashley making a hissing sound.

"Orders skipper?" she whispered.

Shepard was about to respond when the terrorists started talking again. He held his hand out and waved it down telling Ashley and Kasumi to stay down. Something was wrong with what the terrorists were saying.

"Where could he be?" the first terrorist said. "Balak said this was supposed to be a get in, take out the target and get out mission. We should have been gone by now."

"I know," said the second terrorist, "and add that to that Alliance shuttle that crashed outside, we might not have as much time as we want."

This was great news. The terrorists hadn't found Pazness yet meaning Shepard and his squad still had a chance to stop the assassination. Shepard continued to watch as the terrorists came closer but then decided to enter one of the rooms. Once they were out of the hallway, Shepard opened another room and waved Ashley and Kasumi inside.

"They haven't found Pazness yet," Shepard said, "if we're going to find him before Balak does we need to split up. Before we arrived I called the batarian councilor and asked him to send me a floor plan for the palace. He not only did, but he sent me one that has some recently made notes about where some panic rooms had been installed."

As Shepard said his last statement, he used his omni-tool to send the floor plan to Ashley and Kasumi's omni-tools.

"There are three of them," Shepard continued, "two on this floor and one on the floor below us. Williams and I will take the two on this floor. Kasumi you can use your tactical cloak to sneak down to the first floor undetected and check the panic room down there. Any batarian not wearing a guard uniform is to be considered hostile. They already know we're here but they don't know exactly where we are so let's not give them any hints. Take hostiles out only if it can't be avoided."

Ashley and Kasumi nodded, acknowledging they understood their orders. Shepard cracked the door open and looked outside and saw the terrorists hadn't come back into the hall. He gave an all clear signal and Ashley and Kasumi exited the room to head for their respected panic rooms. Shepard closed the door behind him and went to his room. Adrenaline was flowing through him. If he could find Pazness first, not only would Pazness be safe but Balak wouldn't have any cards to play. Balak was not going to get away from him this time.

* * *

Shepard's advice for Kasumi paid off. She was able to sneak down to the first floor all the while using her tactical cloak to remain unseen. Although the tactical cloak did allow her remain invisible to the naked eye, there was still the risk that she would give herself away by the sounds of her footsteps. Fortunately Kasumi could move as quiet as mouse. It affected her speed but it was better to take it slow and steady instead of fast and rough.

After sneaking by the two guards who were based at the bottom of the stairs, Kasumi made her way to the panic room. There weren't many guards on the first floor so it was easy for her to get there quickly. The room where the panic room was based was the palace library. According to the floor plan Shepard gave her, it was located behind a bookshelf along the wall opposite the door. Kasumi felt along the bookshelf until she felt a book that felt hollow. It had to be the switch that opened the panic room. But was that all that the book did?

Kasumi pulled up her x-ray vision. She could see that the book was connected to a series of gears that could open the door. Other than that, there didn't seem to be any other security systems on the door. Kasumi thought that was strange. It wasn't much of a panic room if just anyone could open it, unless this wasn't meant to be a panic room. Kasumi pulled the book and the shelf moved to the side revealing the hidden room. Right on the other side of the room was another door. Based on Kasumi's position in the palace, the door had to lead outside.

The room Kasumi was in was not designed to hide Pazness, it was meant to give him an escape route. Somehow Kasumi felt that Pazness didn't get a chance to use it. Balak's men would have hit the palace immediately after the bomb went off cutting off any chance for Pazness to get to the escape route. His best chance would have been to get to one of the actual panic rooms on the second floor. All Kasumi could do now was hope that Shepard or Ashley would call to confirm they had located Pazness. At any rate she had to regroup with them so she made her way out of the secret room back into the library.

"Kasumi."

Kasumi froze before she could take a step out of the secret room.

"Oh no," she thought, "not again."

"Kasumi."

Keiji's voice was calling for her again. Kasumi spun in a circle trying to see where the voice was coming from. Finally she saw him standing in the secret room. He didn't gesture for her to follow him like last time. He just stood there staring at her. Kasumi started taking steps back to head out of the library. Then Keiji started walking toward her. His face, which up until this point was nothing more than an emotionless stare, was now displaying pure anger. Kasumi pulled out her Kassa Locust and aimed at Keiji.

"Keiji stay back," she said with a slight stutter.

Keiji seemed to show no sign that he even heard what Kasumi said. He just kept moving closer and closer to her. His face was now turning red. It was almost as if his head was a volcano and was boiling towards the blasting point. Kasumi's hand started to shake as she continued to take steps away from Keiji.

"Kasumi….Kasumi….Kasumi."

Keiji started chanting Kasumi's name. Each time he said it, his tone grew more and more aggressive. Kasumi was starting to hear other voices in her head but couldn't understand what was being said because of Keiji's chanting. Her finger slowly started to pull her gun's trigger.

"Kasumi. Kasumi! KASUMI!

"DON'T MAKE ME DO THIS KEIJI!" Kasumi screamed.

The next sound to fill the room was the sound of multiple shots being fired.

* * *

A few minutes earlier:

Shepard had managed to sneak past the guards that were on this floor and was approaching Pazness' office. He raised his rifle and stepped inside. A quick scan of the room revealed no one inside. It made sense to him. Balak and his men already searched here for Pazness and moved on. Hopefully it was because they didn't know about the panic room.

The floor plan indicated that a button in Pazness' desk opened the safe room. With his gun still raised, Shepard eased his way towards the desk. He scanned the desk but couldn't find any buttons on the surface. Shepard smiled. That would have been too easy. He felt underneath the desk with still no luck. Kneeling down, he looked through all the drawers but he still couldn't find a button. Could the floor plan have been wrong?

Before Shepard rose up from his kneeling position, he noticed something on the underside of the desk. There was a small spot that was a different color from the rest of the desk. He felt the spot and realized that it was the button already pressed in. Shepard figured it was designed to lock so that no one on outside could open the panic room once Pazness used it. Pazness had to be in the panic room.

Shepard then noticed a painting of a landscape located on the wall to the right of the desk. The blueprint did mention that was where the door to the panic room was located.

"Pazness," he said as quietly as he could, "I'm Captain Shepard with the Citadel Special Tactics and Reconnaissance. If you can hear me, knock twice."

Silence followed. Scanning the room revealed that there were no cameras. Pazness had no way of seeing who was on the other side of the door. Shepard was going to need to figure some way to convince Pazness that he was who he said he was.

"Pazness you know me. My ship the Normandy came and rescued you from Camala when the Reapers had control of the system. Again, if you can hear me, knock twice."

Finally two knocks were heard coming from behind the wall. It worked.

"Ok sir. The terrorists don't know about the panic room so you'll be safe in here. My team and I will clear the building and come to get you out when it's all clear. Knock once if you understand."

Knock.

After receiving the confirmation knock, Shepard started to head out of the office. He stopped when he heard Ashley's voice coming over his comm.

"Captain this is Williams," she said, "I've searched the panic room in the master bedroom. No sign of Pazness. What about you?"

"I've got him," Shepard replied, "He'll be safe in the panic room here in the office. Now that we know he's secure we can engage the hostiles. Keep your weapons suppressed though. The longer we have surprise on our side the better."

"Copy skipper, I'll meet you back at the office."

"Roger that. Kasumi, Pazness is secure. We are now weapons free on hostiles. Williams and I will clear the second floor and will join you downstairs when we're done."

Silence.

"Kasumi do you copy? Kasumi?"

"DON'T MAKE ME DO THIS KEIJI!"

Shepard was initially surprised by the sudden scream that came over his comm. Then he heard what sounded like sub-machine gunfire coming from downstairs followed by voices coming from the hallways. If Shepard and his squad had an element of surprise, it had just vanished over the course of a few seconds.


	7. 1-7

A minute earlier:

Outside the palace, Balak and three of his men were investigating the shuttle they found at the top of some trees. The shuttle was pretty banged up but the Systems Alliance logo was still distinguishable. Balak seemed to be getting tense at the sight of the logo.

"He's here," he said.

"Who's here sir?" asked one of his men.

"Shepard. I knew I should have killed him on the Citadel when I had the chance. Now he's here to ruin my plans once again. What is taking so long finding Pazness?"

"We've searched the whole palace sir but there is no sign of him," said another soldier.

"Well that's just terrific. Do you any of you geniuses have a bright idea for what we should do now?"

Before any of the men could respond, the sound of gunfire came from inside the palace. Balak and the two men who spoke raced for the palace to investigate. The third man, the one who had been quiet the entire time, stayed behind as the others left. Once they were out of sight, the solider activated his comm. and placed a call.

"It's me," he said, "The operation is not going as planned. They can't find him anywhere."

There was a pause as the voice on the other end of the call spoke.

"Don't worry. The target will be eliminated."

After he ended the call, the soldier pulled out a Black Widow sniper rifle and ran inside the palace using an entrance different from the one Balak used.

* * *

"Williams," Shepard said over the comm. "Kasumi's in trouble. We need to get downstairs."

"On my way," Ashley replied.

Shepard gave a quick call out to Pazness telling him that he would be back. He then raced for the door but stopped when he heard footsteps. Someone was coming and they were in a hurry. This gave Shepard an idea. Waiting until the footsteps were just outside the door, Shepard pushed the button to open the door and quickly put his back to the wall next to the doorway. The terrorists on the other side quickly turned towards the office and fired their weapons. When they stopped firing and before they realized there was no one there, Shepard had pulled out his pistol and stepped out of his hiding place. He fired one shot at both terrorists' heads. Both of them were down in seconds.

Shots fired in a room down the hall got Shepard's attention. He raced towards the sound only to be greeted by a terrorist being thrown out of the room. Immediately after the terrorist hit the floor, a bullet pierced his chest. Shepard peeked into the room to see Ashley holstering her side arm. Two other terrorists lay dead on the floor near her.

"The guy in the hall tried to get fresh with me," she said with a chuckle, "so I showed him the door."

Shepard chuckled back, "remind me to never get on your bad side when we're married. We've probably taken care of all the hostiles on this floor. Let's get downstairs."

They were about to head for the stairs when a new voice came over Shepard's comm. The voice made Shepard tense up when he recognized it. Balak.

"Shepard," he said, "I know it's you that's sneaking around upstairs. I thought you might like to know that I have a member of your squad with me. She's quite a jumpy one. I came into the library to find her shooting her gun at the air and screaming. I always heard that you picked your squads better than this. Sounds like the stories about you aren't quite true."

Shepard mouthed the word "library" to Ashley. Ashley nodded to show she understood and the two of them slowly walked down the stairs heading for the library. Both had their pistols raised ready to take down anyone they came across along the way. Shepard and Williams reached the bottom of the stairs and headed towards the library's open doors. The first thing they saw when they entered was Kasumi with Balak's gun at her head. Kasumi's face was a white as a sheet and her body was shaking. Shepard figured that it wasn't because of Balak. Balak stood behind her with one arm wrapped around her neck and the other pushing his gun closer to her face. Standing on either side of them were two terrorists, each pointing their rifles at Shepard and Ashley.

"Let her go Balak," Shepard said, "it's over. You're not getting Pazness and we have backup on the way. The only thing you can do now is decide whether you want to get out of this in handcuffs or a body bag."

"You're overlooking the other option Shepard," Balak replied, "I use your squad mate as my hostage and threaten to kill her if you don't let me go. Are you getting a sense of déjà vu yet Shepard?"

Shepard knew all too well what Balak was talking about. During his hunt for rogue Spectre Saren Arterius, Shepard and his crew prevented Balak from sending a large asteroid to destroy the colony of Terra Nova. Unfortunately when Shepard tried to apprehend Balak, he found that Balak had taken the asteroid's engineering team hostage. In their cells were explosive devices that Balak would detonate if Shepard tried to stop him from escaping. Not willing to sacrifice innocent lives to stop Balak, Shepard let him go. Now Shepard found himself in an eerily similar situation. This time however, Shepard had a plan to ensure Balak would not get away.

Shepard lowered his weapon. Ashley looked over at him like he was crazy. Shepard turned to Ashley and mouthed "trust me". He then turned his attention back to Balak. The first step was to get Balak and his men distracted and the best way to do it was get Balak talking.

"Okay Balak," he said, "you win. If you promise to let Kasumi go, you and what's left of your team can walk out of here."

As Shepard was speaking, he reached behind his back and started pushing some buttons on his omni-tool. In between pushes he used his hands to give some silent signals to Ashley. Using her peripheral vision, Ashley was able to see the signals and Shepard using his omni-tool. She now understood what Shepard was up to and waited for him to give the "go" signal.

"You really are predictable Shepard," Balak said with subtle cackle, "one of these days you're inability to sacrifice lives to accomplish your mission is going to be the death of you."

"Maybe but it helps me sleep at night. It reminds me that I'm not a monster like you."

Balak's face tensed up. Shepard had struck a nerve.

"I'M NOT A MONSTER!" Balak screamed.

Shepard kept his finger hovering over a button on his omni-tool. The first step of his plan was working. He just had to wait a few more seconds before he executed the final step.

"All I wanted to do was help my people. I wanted to help them regain the glory that we once had and maybe more. In spite of everything I've done for us, my people betrayed me! They said my plans for us were too extreme and would be the death of us but really they were just too afraid to do what needs to be done."

Balak's anger was boiling over. His men were now starting to get into his speech. Just a few more seconds Shepard thought.

"We may not have Pazness but this attack will show them what we are capable of. They will be willing to negotiate with us to prevent further attacks. Once I've convinced them to withdraw from the Council and take me back as Supreme Leader, then the galaxy will be at the mercy of the batarians! NO ONE WILL BE ABLE TO….!"

NOW!

Shepard pushed the last button on his omni-tool and suddenly the whole room seemed to slow down around him. Balak had been so deeply involved in his speech that it took him by surprise when his gun went off. His men jumped when they heard the gun. Before either of them could figure out what happened, Ashley raised her rifle and fired two quick shots at each of the terrorists at Balak's sides. They dropped without even having a chance to raise their own weapons. Shepard was now raising his pistol. He took quick aim and pulled the trigger. The bullet flew past Kasumi's head and passed right through Balak's. There was a look of confusion on Balak's face before his eyes closed and he fell down dead. Within the course of three seconds, Shepard had finally brought Balak to justice.

Shepard turned to see Kasumi lying on the floor next to Balak. Ashley was already tending to her when he walked over. Kasumi was looking spooked when they first entered the library but now she was nervous wreck. She kept feeling her head expecting to feel a bullet hole. When she found out that there wasn't one, she became confused.

"I…I don't understand," she stuttered, "I…I should be…dead. Balak…he…he shot me…in the head. How am I…still alive?"

"It's ok Kasumi," said Shepard, "you're safe now. I'll explain everything after we get you back on the Normandy and the doctor has taken a look at you. Williams can you help Kasumi outside and wait for our backup?"

"You got it skipper," Ashley replied.

Ashley slowly helped Kasumi to her feet and offered her shoulder for support. Once Kasumi was stable, Ashley escorted her through the library's escape route to the outside. Shepard watched them all the way out the door. After the ladies were gone Shepard looked down at Balak's body. He was not the kind of person who took pleasure in killing anybody but he was glad that Balak was no longer going to be a threat to the galaxy. A terrorist was dead and a leader was safe. Mission: accomplished.

Before Shepard could head outside, his attention was caught once again by the terrorist's outfits. It was a bit lighter in the library than it was upstairs so the details of the clothes could be seen more clearly. What was it about the clothes that were causing warning bells to go off in Shepard's head? It wasn't until he took a look at some of the weapons that were lying by the terrorists that he realized what it was. He was going to have to call Liara to be sure but something told him that she would come to the same realization that he did and unfortunately it was not a good one.


	8. 1-8

Kasumi was seated on one of the beds in the Normandy's medical bay. Dr. Chakwas had assured her that there was nothing physically wrong with her. How she was doing emotionally was another story. Shepard and Ashley were seated in chairs across from her. It was tough for them to see their friend like this. Whatever happened to Kasumi before Balak took her hostage had spooked her to the point that she couldn't talk without a stutter. Hopefully now that things had finally quieted down they could get some answers from her. But first they had to answer Kasumi's question.

"How am…how am I sti…still alive?" she asked. "Balak sh…shot me in th…the head."

"No Kasumi he didn't," Shepard replied, "it only looked like he did. I managed to remotely sabotage Balak's gun so that the thermal clip would overheat and explode. Balak and his men being shocked by the unexpected explosion gave Ashley and me the time we needed to take them down before they could hurt you. I learned the trick from an acquaintance of mine named Jenna. She used the same trick to save Conrad Verner's life when he tried to shield me from a Cerberus operative's bullet."

"What abou…what about Pazness? Is he…o…okay?"

"He's fine. He was in his office when the bomb went off and got into the panic room immediately afterwards. Balak and his men seemed to have no idea the panic rooms existed so they couldn't find him. If it hadn't been for that we might not have been able to stop the assassination."

"The batarians are saying that the power should be back on soon," said Ashley, "also the batarian councilor says that the splinter faction has completely disbanded following Balak's death. Without their leader they don't have the unity they once had to keep the group together. We stopped a coup and brought down a terrorist organization. All in all we couldn't have asked for a better outcome to this mission."

"Indeed but let's not talk about the mission anymore. Ashley and I are more worried about you Kasumi. What happened to you down there?"

Kasumi got up from her bed and walked over to look out the window into the mess hall. A tear fell down her face as the memory of what she saw passed through her mind. She took a deep breath to try and calm down. At the very least she wanted to be able to talk without stuttering. It was going to be a long explanation if she couldn't. Finally she turned back to Shepard and Ashley and explained everything that happened: Keiji appearing again, how his face became red with anger, how he walked closer and closer to her while angrily chanting her name and how she fired her gun at him just before Balak took her hostage.

"Kasumi," Ashley said when Kasumi finished, "that's awful. I can't imagine how terrifying that must have been for you to see."

Ashley then got out of her chair and gave Kasumi a hug. Shepard just sat in his chair thinking. He knew that the only way to stop Kasumi from completely losing her mind was to destroy the graybox but he couldn't force her to do it. That could easily do more damage. However, doing nothing was going to guarantee that Kasumi would never get better.

"Where is the graybox Kasumi?" he asked.

Kasumi broke away from Ashley's hug and looked at Shepard.

"Why?"

"You know why."

More tears started to fall from Kasumi's eyes. She took some steps away from Shepard and Ashley. She wanted to make a break for the door and get away from this conversation. But then she stopped. Something was keeping her from going any further. Was Shepard right about Keiji's graybox? Even though she was thinking it, the words she spoke didn't show it.

"No. No you can't destroy the graybox. I need it. Without it there will be nothing left of him. I won't let him go. I won't."

"I'm not asking you to let him go," Shepard said as he rose up from his chair, "but that graybox is going to destroy you if you keep using it like this. Twice now you were nearly killed because you started seeing Keiji and each time you were left in shock for quite some time afterwards. This can't go on."

"But…"

"You will always have your memories of Keiji. You might not be able to have them visualized but they are still there. He will always be with you. Besides you just told us that you were seeing Keiji with a red face and he was sounding angry at you. Does that really sound like the Keiji you knew?"

"…No."

"Is it really worth keeping that graybox when it's causing you to see Keiji like that?"

Kasumi turned away from Shepard and Ashley and started thinking. She kept the graybox so that she can see Keiji whenever she wanted to. Having the chance to actually visualize all their times together helped her cope with his death. But now instead of helping her remember Keiji as he was, the graybox was causing her to see him in ways that she never had nor wanted to see. The image of Keiji filled with anger was now something she could never un-see and one she could have avoided if she never had used the graybox. There was no other choice. If she wanted to keep her memories of Keiji as they were, she needed the graybox to be destroyed.

"It's by my bed in the crew quarters," she said with a sob, "could you…would you destroy it for me? I don't want to see it ever again."

"Of course," Shepard said, "wait here. Ashley, would you come with me please?"

Ashley became confused. Destroying a graybox didn't require two people and she figured it would be better for her to wait with Kasumi. Why would Shepard ask for her to come with him? She gave Kasumi one more hug before following Shepard out.

"When we get back we can talk more about the wedding," she said to Kasumi.

A small smile appeared on Kasumi's face, "does this mean I'm still invited?"

"Of course, any member of the Normandy crew, past or present, is practically family. We would love to have you come."

"Well then you can put me down as attending."

Shepard rolled his eyes. He realized that after he was done destroying the graybox he was going to be stuck in another wedding conversation. The day he married Ashley would not only be one of the best days of his life but it would also be the day where he can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that he would never have to talk about the preparations ever again. But the wedding talk was not his main concern right now. He needed to talk to Ashley about what had been bothering him since they first entered the presidential palace. After the two of them were out of earshot of Kasumi, Ashley spoke first.

"Forgive me if I'm a bit confused as to why you wanted me to come with you to destroy the graybox," she said.

"I figured it would give us a chance to talk about the mission," Shepard replied.

"Yeah I was wondering how the debriefing with Hackett went."

"He was happy to hear that we saved Pazness and that Balak is no longer a threat. The batarian councilor asked Hackett to pass along his thanks for our assistance. But Hackett was not happy when I told him that there was more to Balak's attack than we thought."

"I don't understand. How could there be more? Balak was a terrorist who wanted to blackmail the government to withdraw from the Council and let him become the Supreme Leader. It sounds like a simple motive to me."

"It's not the motive that I think there is more to. It's how Balak was able to launch the attack. When we first came across the terrorists I had warning bells in my head going off when I saw their outfits. It wasn't until the mission was over that I realized why. Their uniforms were nothing more than rags. They were similar to stuff that I saw the refugees wearing during the war. On top of that, the weapons they were using are some of the worst weapons that are available on the market. I just couldn't figure out why Balak would spend a large amount of credits on an EMP bomb and hardly anything to arm himself and his men."

Shepard and Ashley arrived at the crew quarters and found the bed that they loaned Kasumi while she was on board the Normandy. The graybox was on a night table. Shepard picked it up and plugged it in to the terminal in the room. Once he pulled up the files, he stared at the screen for a minute. He knew destroying the graybox was necessary but that didn't make it easier for him to do it. Finally he started deleting files. Ashley stood behind him but she wasn't focused on what Shepard was doing with the graybox. She was thinking about what Shepard had told her.

"Based on everything that's happened to Balak since the end of the war," she said, "I think it's safe to assume that he didn't have access to a lot of funds. Maybe he just didn't have enough funds to spend on weapons and armor."

"That's what I thought," Shepard said as he continued deleting files, "but if that was the case, how could he have afforded to buy the bomb in the first place. You saw Corin's transaction records. That bomb was not cheap. I asked Liara to check Balak's financials again. Until recently he had nowhere near enough credits to buy the bomb but then suddenly the exact amount he needed just appeared. Where would he get that much money in a short amount of time? He couldn't steal it because his little funds would not have been able to fund a pirate operation. The only way he could get that kind of money would be if someone gave it to him."

"But why would someone give a madman credits to fund a terrorist attack?"

"I don't know and I don't know who Balak would trust enough to accept credits from. Liara said that whoever gave Balak the funds did a really good job of covering their tracks. I explained all this to Hackett. He believes my theory but without any leads to go on there is nothing we can do about it. All we can do now is be thankful we stopped Balak's coup."

As Shepard finished his statement, the last of the files on the graybox had been deleted. Convinced that graybox was completely clean of data, he smashed it against a table causing it to shatter into several pieces. He and Ashley got down on the ground and gathered the pieces up to throw into the trash.

"We can also be glad that we helped Kasumi," Ashley said, "now that she's decided to destroy the graybox and with us as support I think she'll be fine."

"Yeah," said Shepard, "speaking of support, thanks for having my back on this mission."

Ashley smiled, "Always."

Once the last piece of the graybox was in the trash, Shepard put his arm around Ashley's shoulders and the couple walked out of the crew's quarters to meet Kasumi back in the med bay.

* * *

Back on Khar'shan, the lone solider was hiding behind a tree a few yards from the presidential palace. From his position he could see the work crews working to restore the power to the palace. He also noticed ambulances being loaded with bodies that were coming out of the palace. Convinced that no one was looking towards his direction, he stepped out of his hiding place and began walking away from the palace.

A few feet into his journey, he heard a ringing coming from his omni-tool. Someone was calling him and he had a pretty good idea who it was. It was not someone he was looking forward to talking to. With a shaky hand he pushed the button to accept the call. He jumped when he was greeted by a distorted voice.

"Report," said the voice.

The batarians nerves caused him to stutter his reply, "I…I beg to report… that phase one was a fa…failure."

A sigh came over the batarian's omni-tool, "It was Shepard wasn't it?"

"I'm sorry."

"Shepard prevented the mission from being completed."

"Ye…Yes."

"Well, if it wasn't for the fact that the next phase does not require this mission being a success I would have you shot for this failure. You should consider yourself lucky."

The batarian let out a sigh of relief, "thank you. I promise I won't fail you again."

"We still have a lot of preparations to make before we can commence phase two. I've sent a shuttle to bring you back to base. Out."

When the voice cut the communication, the batarian took one last look behind him to ensure he wasn't being followed. Seeing no one behind him, he continued on his way towards a shuttle that was waiting for him up ahead. The shuttle doors opened revealing a turian and human on board. Before the batarian could set foot onto the shuttle, the turian raised a pistol and fired a bullet right into the batarian's head. The human smiled as the batarian fell down dead.

"The boss didn't say anything about 'us' not shooting you for your failure," he said, "or that the shuttle would be bringing you back to the base alive."

After saying this, the human and the turian loaded the dead batarian onto the shuttle and ordered the pilot to take off. The shuttle then rose off the ground and shot into the sky to leave Khar'shan.

**END OF PART 1**


	9. 2-1

**PART 2 - Seven Months Later**

"Boss? Boss, are you there?"

A male voice had snapped a lone figure in an underground bunker out of a deep thought. The figure had been concentrating on something so hard that they were unaware that a call had come through on their terminal. The figure turned towards their terminal and saw that they were receiving a video call from a turian.

"Yes I'm here," said the figure, "sorry I was thinking about something else. Do you have a report for me?"

"Of course," the turian replied, "the phase two preparations are now complete. All we need is your "go" order and we will proceed."

"You are a go. But I want you to understand something first."

"Boss?"

"We already have one failure because of that idiot batarian I put in charge of the first phase. We can't afford to have another one. If you don't want to earn a punishment worse than what the batarian received you better ensure that this phase does not end in failure. Do I make myself clear?"

The turian didn't respond after the figure finished speaking. He knew about how the batarian died. In fact he was the one that fired the gun that killed him. The batarian died from a single gunshot wound to the head. The only way the turian could experience a worse death would be if he was painfully tortured first. He also knew that the figure's threat was a serious one. Thinking about what awaited him if he failed had scared him into silence.

"Do I make myself clear?" the figure said again to get a response.

"Yes boss," the voice replied, "I'll keep that in mind. Out."

The image of the turian vanished instantly after he finished his statement. With the call finished, the figure turned their attention back to what they were concentrating on earlier. It was a datapad that had an image of a male human displayed on it. The text on the screen identified the human as Captain Shepard of the Alliance Navy. A smile slowly grew on the figure's face.

"You might have won the last battle Shepard," they said, "but our war is far from over."

* * *

In his apartment inside the Tiberius Tower apartment building on the Citadel, Captain Shepard was sitting behind a desk in his office looking at a datapad. The datapad was filled with several documents. As Shepard scanned through the documents, he grew more and more frustrated until finally he tossed the datapad onto a desk. Whatever he was looking for, it wasn't in the documents. Shepard barely had a chance to breathe a sigh of frustration when he heard a beeping noise coming from his terminal. He was receiving a call from his ship the SSV Normandy. The voice that greeted Shepard when he answered the call was Comm. Specialist Samantha Traynor.

"Captain," said Traynor, "is this a bad time?"

"No I was just finishing up," Shepard replied.

"Any luck?"

"Sadly no, the more I look the more I keep coming across dead ends."

Seven months ago, Shepard was on a Spectre mission to prevent Balak, a batarian terrorist and an old foe of his, from assassinating the Supreme Leader of the batarian Hegemony. Balak hoped that the assassination would force his fellow batarians to withdraw from the Citadel Council and make him the new leader of the Hegemony. Shepard prevented the assassination and killed Balak when he took one of Shepard's squadmates as a hostage. By all accounts, the mission was a success. Then Shepard discovered that Balak had a secret financial backer. Since then he had spent any free time he had trying to identify them. Unfortunately as he told Traynor, he had not been having much luck.

"I'm sorry Captain." Traynor said.

"It's okay. What's up?"

"You asked me to call you at this time to remind you to get ready for your dinner date with Commander Williams."

Shepard checked the time and saw that Traynor was right. He and his fiancée, Lieutenant Commander Ashley Williams, were getting married in one week and she was running some final wedding errands with her family. She agreed to meet Shepard for a dinner date after they were done. Shepard thanked Traynor for the call and left the office.

After heading upstairs to his bedroom, Shepard pulled out his formal wear from his closet. It was the same outfit that was given to him by his old squadmate Kasumi Goto for an operation to retrieve her deceased partner's graybox. Shepard later wore the same outfit when he infiltrated a casino on the Citadel to find an arms dealer with a connection to a plot to steal Shepard's identity. Shepard felt good knowing that now he finally had a reason to wear his formal wear that wasn't connected to a mission.

As Shepard finished putting on his outfit, he took one last look around the apartment. The apartment hadn't changed much since Shepard's late mentor Admiral David Anderson gave it to him during the Reaper War. The only major difference right now was that there were boxes lying around. With their marriage imminent, Ashley had started moving some of her things into the apartment. There were still a few things left to unpack but Shepard was certain that they would get it done before the wedding. Once he was dressed and freshened up, Shepard walked out of the apartment, got in his skycar and headed to the restaurant.

* * *

The restaurant Shepard and Ashley had chosen to have their date was not a high class one. Their reputations would have allowed them to jump the line at any of the finest restaurants on the Citadel but they weren't looking for that tonight. They wanted a place that would allow them a nice quiet evening of great food and quality time together. It was something they hadn't had for a while. Between the Reaper War, Spectre missions and the wedding prep, they were lucky to get a few minutes of alone time a day.

A few minutes after Shepard was seated at a table, Ashley walked into the restaurant. Just as Shepard was wearing his formal wear from the casino mission, Ashley was wearing the blue dress she wore that day. In Shepard's eyes, she still looked as beautiful in that dress now as she did then. Ashley smiled when she saw Shepard waving her over to their table. Shepard got up from his chair and gave Ashley a hug and a kiss. He then pulled Ashley's chair out for her.

"Madame," Shepard said attempting a French accent, "your table is ready."

"Thank you monsieur," Ashley said as she sat down.

Once the two of them were settled, they ordered the restaurant's best bottle of wine to start their meal. The waitress poured some in each of their glasses and left the two alone to decide what to order. Before they picked up their menus, Shepard and Ashley picked up their glasses and clanked them together.

"I'm really glad we could do this," said Ashley.

"Me too," Shepard replied, "it's nice to get away from the wedding prep and enjoy some alone time."

"Oh come on the wedding prep hasn't been that bad."

"When we were looking at tablecloth samples for the reception, all I could think was 'how many different colors could there be?' One time I think they showed us two samples that were the same color."

"Ok maybe there were some times where the planning got carried away. Look at it this way. In less than a week, it will all be over and you and I can just focus on living the rest of our lives together."

"I'll drink to that."

The two of them took a sip of their wine after making the toast. A couple of minutes went by and their waitress hadn't returned to take their order. Shepard thought about getting up to look for her but Ashley shook her head when she figured out what he was thinking. Shepard realized she was right. There was no point in making a fuss over it. The important thing was to enjoy the evening. Ashley decided to change the subject to get their minds off the wait.

"Traynor told me that you've been trying to identify Balak's financial backer again."

Shepard knew this was coming. Ashley fully supported him working on the case but with the wedding getting closer, she had hoped that he would leave work alone until after the honeymoon. She couldn't complain though. It was the kind of person Shepard was. He couldn't let loose ends stand.

"Yeah I thought I would take one more try at it before the wedding. All I got for it was wasted time. I couldn't find any new leads."

Ashley reached across the table and took Shepard's hand, "you will. I know it. After we get back from our honeymoon, we'll figure it out together. For now, let's not think about work."

"You're right. Thanks Ash."

The moment was interrupted when they heard a voice. Thinking it was their waitress, they looked up towards the voice to order their food. To their surprise, it wasn't the waitress. It was Councilor Tevos, the asari representative on the Citadel Council. Tevos was the only incumbent councilor who was also in office during the Reaper War. The other councilors from that time had either passed away or retired. Shepard's history with Tevos was checkered at best. Despite that, Shepard respectfully shook her hand.

"Madame Councilor," he said, "what brings you to this part of the Citadel?"

"Can we take a walk Captain?" Tevos replied, "I have an assignment for you and I would like to discuss the details with you in private."

"With all due respect Madame Councilor we're kind of busy here," said Ashley.

Shepard almost cringed when Ashley made her comment. She knew better than to mouth off to politicians but he also knew that whenever she said "with all due respect," she actually meant "kiss my ass". True a part of him was thinking the same thing but he would never say anything that might let it on. There was also a part of him that was curious. Normally the human councilor, Councilor Hackett, would be talking to him if the council had an assignment for him and usually over a comm. Why would Tevos be giving him the assignment and in person?

"It's all right Williams," said Shepard, "I'm sure I can spare a few minutes."

Ashley turned to Shepard and gave him a mean glare. He had called her by her last name. It was a subtle way of saying that he was officially on the clock. This meant that their date was coming to a premature end. Realizing that protesting was pointless, she gave a wave indicating that he could go. Shepard got up from the table and followed Tevos out of the restaurant. Once they were outside, Shepard spoke first.

"If I may, why isn't Councilor Hackett discussing this assignment with me?"

"Because this isn't a council assignment I'm sending you on," replied Tevos, "your help has been requested by Aria T'Loak."

Shepard knew the name all too well. Aria T'Loak was a crime boss and unofficial ruler of the space station Omega. Shepard had reluctantly helped her on a few jobs in the past. One time he even helped her retake Omega when the pro-human group Cerberus occupied it. Aria may have been a criminal leader on a crime infested station but Shepard knew that Aria needed to be in charge to keep the station from becoming completely out of control. Now it sounded like she needed his help again.

It also explained why Tevos was giving this assignment to him. Shepard always had a hunch Aria had a hold on the councilor. When he met with Aria on the Citadel during the Reaper War, he saw her ask Tevos to help her circumvent the immigration process and Tevos did it without hesitation. Now Aria was using her pull on Tevos to get Shepard to help her. Shepard never brought this up when he talked to Tevos because he didn't want to cause any more tension between them. All he could do now was find out what Aria wanted.

Tevos continued, "You remember how you helped unite the mercenary groups under Aria's rule to fight against the Reapers? When the war was over, Aria's control over the gangs remained…until now."

"What happened?" Shepard asked.

"Aria said that recently the Blue Suns group broke away from her rule. They didn't say why, they just up and left. Normally I would call that a case of criminals betraying each other. However Aria believes that the Blue Suns might have accepted a contract from someone powerful and whoever it is they may have a sinister agenda."

"It must be something really sinister if even Aria is concerned about it."

"She said she'll give you the details if you meet her on Omega, you and you alone."

"Why am I not surprised that she would ask me to come alone? Tell her that I will be on Omega within a day."

Shepard turned to walk back into the restaurant when Tevos called out to him.

"I get the feeling that Commander Williams is not going to be happy about this. Do you think she's going to withdraw my invitation to the wedding?"

Shepard smiled, "I think once I explain it to her she'll understand. If Aria wants to come to the wedding however, I don't think Ashley will be as forgiving."


	10. 2-2

The next day, Shepard was on Omega standing on the steps of the Afterlife club. The last time he was at this club it was the command center for the Cerberus occupation. Now it was once again a place of pole dancing, alcohol and occasional fighting. He wasn't sure if that was necessarily an improvement.

But there was one subtle difference that did improve the club and Omega in general. Since its liberation from Cerberus, the station had been policed by the Talons. Originally a criminal gang, the Talons became a vigilante group under the command of Nyreen Kandros, a former soldier in the Turian military and a former lover of Aria. Nyreen was killed during the mission to take back Omega from Cerberus. To honor her legacy, Aria allowed the Talons to become a security force on the station. Omega was still a crime hub but thanks to the Talons, major crimes such as murder no longer went unpunished.

"So this is the famous Afterlife club."

Shepard turned to see Ashley walking up behind him. The tone in her voice indicated she was not as impressed by the club as her statement made it sound.

"Did I ever mention how I really didn't like being kept on the sidelines the last time you were here?"

"You may have mentioned it once or twice," Shepard replied, "it wasn't really my choice. I needed the resources Aria was offering for the war and she would only work with me. But you have to at least give me credit for being willing to bring you even though Aria's requesting the same thing this time."

"True. I know you explained why we have to talk to Aria now but it's still depressing that we have to report to a crime boss."

"I know but there are worse people we could be dealing with. Aria's not so bad as long as you don't get on her bad side."

"She's already on mine."

"Which is why once we're inside you'll let me do all the talking."

A look of confusion appeared on Ashley's face.

"I don't want her to see that you're mad at her for ruining our date."

"Hey I can be professional."

The comment made Shepard smile. With nothing more to say, the two walked into the club. Now that all the Cerberus equipment was gone, the club looked just like it did when Shepard first visited the station during his mission against the Collectors. Right down to the stage in the center of the club that featured asari pole dancers. From across the room, Shepard could see Aria sitting in her special box overlooking the club. It looked to him that she was angry for some reason.

Raising one hand, Aria managed to silence everyone in the club. Everyone then turned their attention to Shepard and Ashley. Some of Aria's guards even raised their weapons. Ashley nervously reached for her pistol before noticing Shepard giving her a 'settle down' look. The room was quiet for several seconds before Aria finally spoke.

"Shepard," she said, "I thought I explicitly told the asari councilor that I wanted you to come alone. After all you were willing to do it last time I asked for your help. If we're going to talk, your lapdog is going to have to wait outside."

"Watch it," said Ashley, "I'm not just his…"

"Williams!" Shepard said cutting her off.

Ashley turned to Shepard and saw his disapproving glare and realized that she was doing exactly what Shepard didn't want her to do. She bowed her head, slightly ashamed, and took a step back. Shepard then turned his attention back to Aria.

"Sorry Aria but from now on I'm part of a package deal. Wherever I go, she goes too. Is that going to be a problem?"

Realizing that Shepard wasn't going to change his mind, Aria sighed and then gestured for him and Ashley to come to her. Everyone else in the club resumed what they were doing before Aria silenced them. Shepard and Ashley proceeded up the steps to Aria's box and found her sitting on her couch. Aria nodded towards the couch to offer Shepard and Ashley a seat. Shepard took a seat while Ashley remained standing. Aria broke the silence once everyone was settled.

"So this must be the famous Commander Williams, the second human Spectre and the future Mrs. Shepard. I don't believe we've ever had the pleasure."

"I don't know if I would call this meeting a pleasure," Ashley snarled.

"Ooh she's a feisty one. You probably had a difficult time taming this one Shepard. By the way, I haven't received my invitation to your wedding yet."

"What did you want to see me about Aria," Shepard said trying to change the subject.

"Wow. You weren't planning on inviting me were you? I'm hurt Shepard."

"We're having a small wedding Aria. Close friends and family only. While you are definitely not an enemy, I wouldn't exactly say that we're friends. If anything we're more like business partners."

"I guess that's fair. At the very least you should let me give you a wedding present."

"Fine but you'll have to give it to us later. Tell me why you wanted me to come here."

"As Councilor Tevos told you," said Aria, "the Blue Suns have decided that they don't want to be under my rule anymore. While it is sad to see them leave me, I normally wouldn't care what they decide to do with themselves. Then I found out why they had left."

"It was because the group is once again under the control of that bastard Vido."

Shepard turned to the source of the new voice. Before the figure appeared, Shepard figured out who it was. It was his old squadmate Zaeed Massani. Zaeed was a renowned bounty hunter that Shepard recruited for the suicide mission against the Collectors. It was during that time Shepard also learned that Zaeed was a one of the co-founders of the Blues Suns.

It was also during that time he came across Vido Santiago, the other founder of the Blue Suns. Vido had taken a refinery on the planet Zorya hostage. Zaeed had been hired by a client to retake it before he agreed to work with Shepard. Shepard later agreed to help Zaeed on his personal mission. Everything went wrong when Zaeed, motivated by wanting revenge against Vido for betraying him twenty years earlier, set the refinery on fire. The fire spread and trapped the workers. Zaeed wanted to ignore the workers and chase after Vido. Shepard refused to leave the workers to die and ordered Zaeed to help with the rescue. They managed to save the workers but Vido escaped. Zaeed was initially angry over letting Vido get away but Shepard was able to convince him to put his plans for vengeance aside until after the suicide mission was complete. Now after a more than a year in hiding, Vido had finally resurfaced.

"Zaeed," Shepard said, "what are you doing here?"

"To be honest Shepard," Aria said, "you weren't the first person I called for help with this matter. Given Zaeed's history with Commander Santiago, I thought he would be willing to go after him. Except for some reason he insisted that he would only do it if you would help him."

"Really?"

"Yeah Shepard," said Zaeed, "I don't want to have a repeat of the last time I went after Vido. I figured it couldn't hurt to have you as my conscience. Looks like I got two consciences for the price of one."

"Nice to see you again as well Zaeed," Ashley said.

"Besides, something stinks about Vido. Well more so than usual. Vido has always been someone looking for an easy way to make lots of credits. His best means of doing that is by double-crossing his clients and stealing their goods after they've already paid for his services. He would never take a job without an angle he can pursue. This time however, there seems to be no obvious hidden agenda for him."

"There's also the matter of this phone call I intercepted," Aria said as she pulled up her omni-tool, "I was only able to pick up Santiago's end of the conversation but there is something odd that Zaeed and I noticed. Listen to it yourself and tell us what you think."

Aria proceeded to push a few buttons on her omni-tool. When she was done, an audio recording of Vido's voice began to play.

"Yes this is Commander Santiago….Really?...How much are you willing to pay?...I think we can make that happen….What do you mean conditions?...Are you insane?! I'm the leader of the Blue Suns! No one gives orders to me or my men except me!….Wait who are you?...Oh….Yes…..I understand….No your conditions are not unreasonable….Of course….I'll be at the rendezvous point with some of my best men as soon as possible….Goodbye."

Shepard took a second to process what he had heard. On the surface it sounded like a simple business call. But there was something unusual about the call. The client said something that made Vido furious but when the client gave their identity, Vido got nervous. During the short time he had seen Vido, Shepard wouldn't have pegged Vido as being someone who could be spooked by someone easily. Whoever was on the other end of that phone call turned the wild lion Vido was into a mouse.

"You heard it didn't you?" Zaeed asked.

Shepard nodded.

"This is why I called Zaeed and why Zaeed called you," said Aria, "most people who hire the Blue Suns are up to no good. This client has Santiago scared. That tells me they are extremely powerful. You combine someone powerful and the fact they are up to no good, something really bad could be about to happen."

"And if that's the case," Zaeed jumped in, "my going after Vido could lead to another Zorya or worse. I want you to come with me to ensure I don't make that mistake again."

"Makes sense," Shepard said, "do we have any idea where the rendezvous point that Vido mentioned is located?"

"As a matter of fact we do," said Aria, "there is a planet in the Mil System in Sigurd's Cradle called Terapso. Various crime figures, warlords and governments use its moons as a neutral meeting ground for all sorts of deals. If Vido and his client need a safe place to meet, that would be the ideal location."

"Sounds like a good place to start. Thanks Aria. Commander Williams and I will take the job. Are you ready to come back aboard the Normandy Zaeed?"

"As long as I can get a better room than that cargo hold I was in for the Collector mission," said Zaeed.

"Deal. Let's head out."

After saying goodbye to Aria, Shepard, Ashley and Zaeed walked out of Afterlife. As they were leaving, Shepard couldn't help but notice that Ashley looked slightly squeamish.

"Everything okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," Ashley replied, "it's just I feel like I need to take a shower after spending all that time with Aria."

Shepard laughed, "she does have that effect on people. Although I think she's actually gotten better since I helped her kicked Cerberus off of Omega."

"Well you do have that effect on people Shepard," Zaeed joked.

"What does that mean?" Ashley asked confused.

"He just means that some of my paragon charm has a tendency to rub off on people," Shepard explained, "once we get on the Normandy we better get a plan together. It won't take us long to get to Sigurd's Cradle."


	11. 2-3

The Kodiak shuttle carrying Shepard, Ashley and Zaeed was making its final approach towards Terapso's moon. Ashley and Zaeed were in the back checking their weapons while Shepard was in the co-pilots seat putting through a call. His fingers were drumming on his knees as he was impatiently waiting for an answer. The person he was calling was normally quick to answer but for some reason they weren't this time. Eventually the call was answered and a person appeared on the vid screen.

The person he was calling was his old friend and Shadow Broker, Dr. Liara T'Soni. Shepard noticed when she appeared on the screen that Liara seemed a bit out of breath. It was almost as if she had to run to answer the call. Before Liara spoke, Shepard thought he heard a voice in the background. The voice sounded familiar to him and he distinctly heard the voice calling out "I'll be waiting." When he realized who the voice belonged to, he silently chuckled. He now understood why Liara took a long time to answer.

"Shepard!" Liara said surprised, "I wasn't expecting a call from you. Is everything all right?"

"Everything's fine Liara," Shepard replied, "I'm on an assignment and…"

"An assignment?!" Liara interrupted, "Shepard your wedding is in less than a week and you are on an assignment?!"

"It couldn't be avoided. We're trying to intercept a meeting between the Blue Suns and a client at a base on Terapso's moon. I need you to get us some map layouts for the bases there so we can pick out observation points."

"Now?"

"Yes Liara. That's not a problem is it?"

Liara looked off towards something off screen as she seemed to be debating over how to answer Shepard's question. After a few seconds, she sighed.

"I'll have the layouts sent to you before you touchdown."

"Thanks Liara."

"By the way Shepard, does Ashley know you're on this assignment?"

"She certainly does," Ashley called out from her seat.

"Ashley?" said Liara. "You're there too?"

"I'm just here to make sure we get this assignment done in time for the wedding."

"Well I hope you do. It's not every day I get the chance to be a maid of honor."

"Thanks again Liara," said Shepard, "we'll let you know if we need anything else. Oh and tell Feron we said hello as well."

Liara gasped and started to blush just before Shepard ended the call.

* * *

The base the shuttle was heading to was located inside a large dome shaped barrier. The barrier was used to create a breathable atmosphere so everyone could walk inside without breathing masks. The shuttle touched down outside the entrance to the base in a spot for passenger pick-up and drop-off. Ashley was the only one who stepped off the shuttle. Shepard had decided that since she was the only one that Vido had never seen before, she would be able to blend into the crowds easier. Once she was inside, she would locate a member of the Blue Suns and secretly plant a microphone on them so they could listen in on the meeting.

The biggest risk of her job was that she would be unarmed once she was in the base. For the safety of all negotiating parties the base hosted, no one was allowed to bring firearms inside. Normally Ashley's Spectre status would have allowed her exemption from any rules like that but they were in the Terminus Systems where the Council had no jurisdiction. Spectres were treated the same as anyone else.

When Ashley finished checking in her weapons, she entered a large oval shaped lobby area. The way the furniture was arranged it almost looked like a waiting area for a spaceport. But the people in the room were not waiting to board a flight. Instead they were waiting to be called to enter one of the five meeting rooms at the far end of the lobby. The doors to each room were marked with number ranging from 1-5. A lot of the people in the lobby looked impatient like they had been waiting for hours to go inside. Ashley wondered how many negotiations happened at this base every day.

After taking in the sights of the lobby, Ashley started scanning the crowd. The uniforms the Blue Suns wear would make them easy to spot. To her surprise however, there was no one in the crowd wearing a bright blue uniform. She started to get a bit nervous that she might have been too late and all the soldiers were already in the meeting room.

Then a voice came over an intercom asking for members of the Blue Suns negotiating party to meet outside the doors to meeting room #4. Within seconds of the announcement, some people in the crowd got up and started making their way to the door. They were a mixture of humans, turians and batarians. They were all dressed in formal wear and not the uniforms Ashley was expecting to see them in. Based on the description Shepard and Zaeed gave her, Ashley saw that Vido wasn't among them. Fortunately for her it didn't matter. All she had to do was plant the microphone on any one of soldiers she could see.

Ashley pulled up her omni-tool to send Shepard a message informing him which meeting room the Blue Suns were using. Once it was sent, she quickly walked over towards the crowd of soldiers waiting outside the meeting room door. The tiny microphone was carefully concealed in her hand. Just before she walked past the soldiers she pretended to misstep and bumped into one of the humans.

"Oh my I am so sorry," she said, "I am such a klutz."

As she was apologizing, she was using her hands to dust him off. It was during that time she placed the microphone on his outfit. The microphone was tiny but as an added precaution it had the ability to change colors so it could blend into a person's outfit a little more. So it came as no surprise to Ashley when she put the microphone on that it almost seemed to disappear when it changed colors. Shortly after she put it on, the soldier grabbed her arms and moved them away from him.

"Just watch where you're going next time," the soldier said trying to hold his anger in.

The doors to the meeting room opened and all the Blue Suns soldiers went inside. Once they were gone, Ashley pulled up her omni-tool to test the levels. She heard no static and the conversation the soldiers were having was coming through loud and clear. It might have come through a little too clear as they were talking about Ashley and calling her a few less than complimentary things. Ashley just ignored it and sent a message to Shepard asking if he was picking up the microphone as well. When he responded that he had, Ashley determined that her job was done and she headed for the exit.

An announcement over the intercom stopped her in her tracks before she made it to the door. It was asking for another negotiating party to head for meeting room #4. When Ashley heard whose party it was, she just couldn't move another step. She knew who the person was and realized that the stakes had just been raised several levels. She quickly began to type a message for Shepard. This time when she tried to send it, a message popped up saying that her message was being blocked. Even after trying two more times the message still wouldn't go through. Her answer came when one of the base's security guards came over to her. He was a krogan and probably one of the biggest ones Ashley had seen. It was no wonder a base would employ someone like him for security.

"Who are you sending messages to?" the krogan growled.

"Who's asking?"

"I'm this base's chief of security. We don't allow anyone to send electronic messages here. It's a security risk. Now I'll ask you one more time. Who are you sending messages to?"

Ashley didn't respond.

"Okay then," the krogan said as he grabbed Ashley's hands and handcuffed them behind her, "you and I are going to take a walk and you are going to tell me what I want to know."

* * *

A few minutes earlier:

After the shuttle dropped Ashley off, Shepard and Zaeed remained on board and took the shuttle out towards some hills about 500 yards from the base and right on the edge of the barrier. The layouts Liara gave them indicated that they would be the ideal observation points. When they touched down, Shepard could see why. All five of the bases negotiation rooms had windows that looked out towards the hills. Once Ashley gave Shepard the room number for the Blue Suns meeting, he and Zaeed could move quickly to a spot on the hill that would allow them to see into the room.

Before they reached the hills, Zaeed took a few seconds to check that all the mechanisms on his sniper rifle were working properly. As he worked, he noticed that Shepard seemed to be watching him uneasily. He put the rifle aside once the final mechanism was tested.

"Relax Shepard," he said, "I know the plan. I'm not going to take my shot at Vido until after we find out what he and his client are up to."

"I know," Shepard replied, "it's not that I don't trust you Zaeed. It's just that we're dealing with a lot of unknowns and that means anything can go wrong."

"We'll be fine Shepard. There were a lot of unknowns when we went through the Omega 4 Relay but we managed to get out all right. Compared to that, this mission is a pushover."

Zaeed's reassurance made Shepard smile. Just as they finished speaking, the shuttle had touched down on the hills. Shepard and Zaeed stepped off the shuttle to the sight of nothingness. If it wasn't for the sight of the base, they would have thought they were in the middle of a desert far away from civilization. They couldn't make out any of the people at the base with their naked eye. This was good because that meant no one at the base would be able to see them.

Shepard's omni-tool beeped to indicate a message was coming through. Ashley had sent them the room number for the Blue Suns meeting. They had gotten to their destination just in time. They didn't have to move too much further to get to a spot that gave them the perfect sniper view of the meeting room. While Zaeed got himself situated, Shepard started picking up the audio from Ashley's microphone. He sent her a message confirming that the mic was working and he could hear the Blue Suns clearly.

"I have a visual on the Blue Suns soldiers," Zaeed called to Shepard.

Looking towards the base, Shepard pulled out a pair of binoculars and saw that Zaeed was right. They may not have been wearing the Blue Suns uniforms but the fact the group consisted of the different species the Blue Suns recruited confirmed there was no doubt who they were. He counted seven soldiers total entering the room. Unfortunately Vido was not among them. Based on the audio Shepard was picking up, they were grumbling about a clumsy woman they bumped into in the lobby. Shepard figured it must have been Ashley's way of planting the microphone. The soldiers grumbled for a few seconds more when they suddenly looked towards the entrance. Shepard focused his binoculars on the meeting room doors and saw what had gotten their attention. Zaeed saw it too and it caused him to make a small growl.

Stepping into the meeting room was none other Vido Santiago. He too was not wearing a Blue Suns uniform. Instead he was wearing a blue colored formal tuxedo. He gave a quick nod to his men signaling them to relax. Everyone in the room took a seat around the round table in the center of the room. Nobody spoke for a while after that. If it wasn't for the fact Shepard could see the meeting, he would have thought that the microphone had gone dead.

The silence was broken when the meeting room doors opened once again. The people that stepped in were definitely not Blue Suns soldiers. Shepard could tell because they were salarians and the Blue Suns never hire salarians. There were five salarians and four of them formed what looked like a protective circle around the fifth. Two of the four were each carrying something that looked like briefcases. Shepard tried hard to get a look at the fifth salarian's face but between the hooded outfit they were wearing and the circle of guards around them it was almost impossible. He watched as guards escorted the hooded salarian to a seat at the table that faced the window. Once they were seated, Shepard was finally able to see their face. What he saw made his eyes shoot wide open and left him breathless. What Vido said next only confirmed that it was who he thought it was.

"Shall we get down to business Dalatrass Linron?"


	12. 2-4

Zaeed looked up from his scope and saw Shepard's surprised look, "You all right Shepard? You look like you've seen a ghost."

It wasn't a ghost but it was someone just as bad. Dalatrass Linron was the head of the wealthiest salarian bloodline. That practically made her the leader of the whole Salarian Union. During the Reaper War, she represented the salarians during a war summit to determine the course of action for the different fleets. Unfortunately things got complicated when Primarch Victus, the turian representative, insisted on inviting the krogan to the summit. To negotiate an alliance with the krogan, Shepard had to cure the genophage virus that affected krogan fertility rates. The Dalatrass disapproved and even tried to get Shepard to sabotage the cure in exchange for full salarian support. In the end, Shepard knew that not curing the genophage was wrong and that the Dalatrass' price for support was too high. He went ahead with curing the genophage. The Dalatrass sent him a message condemning his actions, claiming that after the war with the Reapers was over, the resurgent krogan would attack the Salarian Union to get revenge for the salarians creating the genophage and that the blood of all the salarians killed would be on Shepard's hands.

Despite her disapproval and refusal to give salarian support for Shepard's war effort, several members of the salarian Special Tasks Group went against her and agreed to help. Also the salarian councilor gave Shepard the salarian third fleet to thank Shepard for saving him from the Cerberus assassin Kai Leng. When the war was over, the salarian soldiers involved were hailed as heroes and the Dalatrass' reputation took a major blow. There were even some reports that the Linron bloodline was trying to strip her of her title. During all that, she was constantly quoted saying that someday the krogan would seek revenge and cursing Shepard's name for being the reason they would.

"I know who that salarian is," he replied.

"Who is it?"

"She's a salarian Dalatrass and if she's involved then this mission just got a lot more complicated. I know you promised that you would wait until after the meeting ends to kill Vido but I need to stress it even more now that the Dalatrass is involved in this."

"Understood Shepard, I won't even put my finger on the trigger until you tell me to."

"For now we just need to listen and find out what these two are doing together."

* * *

Inside the meeting room, Vido was pouring himself a drink from a bottle on the table. He held up the bottle towards the Dalatrass to offer her a drink. The Dalatrass declined the drink by holding up her hand and shaking her head. After Vido took a sip of his drink, he sat back in his chair and gestured for the Dalatrass to speak. The Dalatrass called one of the guards who had a briefcase forward. The guard put it on the table and opened it. Vido smiled when he saw what was inside.

"It's half the amount we agreed," said the Dalatrass, "you'll get the other half once you've delivered the package."

"I have to say Dalatrass it's not often that we see someone dealing in hard currency," Vido said, "it was completely unnecessary. We are good at covering up our finances."

"It's not for your protection."

"I see. Do you also have this package that we are supposed to deliver?"

The Dalatrass called the other guard who also had a case. This one was not a briefcase. It was boxed shape and it had a label to indicate it contained biohazard material. Vido shifted uncomfortably in his chair when he saw the briefcase. Some of his men even started moving towards the door. The Dalatrass sensed their concerns.

"Relax it's completely safe. Your job is to take this to Tuchanka and release it in a populated region. It doesn't matter where. As long as it's released in a place that will have a large body count, that's all that matters."

Vido began rubbing his chin, "Tuchanka may not be one of the more technologically advanced planets but I doubt that we would be able land on the planet without someone seeing us and trying to shoot us down. Even if we had a reason to land on the planet, they would search the shuttle and no doubt find that package."

"That's already covered. The krogan are expecting a diplomatic shuttle carrying salarian, turian and human representatives on an aid mission. They are supposed to help offer aid to the krogan in their rebuilding. What the krogan don't know is the only diplomat on the shuttle is going to be me. The turian and human representatives are going to actually be you and your men."

Vido smiled, "And since diplomatic shuttles aren't usually searched thoroughly, we can hide the package on the shuttle without having to worry about it being discovered. Brilliant."

"It is. On top of that, all appearances would indicate that the alien diplomats betrayed the krogan. The krogan will go to war and the other races will have no choice but to do what Captain Shepard should have done months ago, wipe out the krogan once and for all."

All the members of the Blue Suns group flinched when the Dalatrass said her last statement. Every member of the group knew who Shepard was. When Vido heard the name, he squeezed his drinking glass so hard it shattered. The Dalatrass almost jumped in her seat when the glass exploded.

"I take it you know Shepard," she said.

"Know him?" Vido growled. "He tried to kill me once. It forced me to go into hiding and temporarily give command of the suns to my second in command Darner Vosque. The first thing Vosque did once he took command was give control of the group to that bitch Aria T'Loak. If I hadn't had Vosque killed and taken control back when I did, I would have lost everything."

"I know how you feel," replied the Dalatrass, "I always thought Shepard was supposed to be some kind of hero. Then he decided to cure the genophage despite my strong warnings that it would doom the galaxy. Even my own people have decided that he made the right call and are deciding on whether or not to remove me from my post as head of the Linron family. After this is over they will see that I was right."

The Dalatrass turned towards the guard who had the biohazard briefcase and gestured toward Vido's group. The guard nodded and pulled out some vials from his pocket.

The Dalatrass continued, "there is one more thing. Before we leave we need to make sure that you and your men each get this vaccine. Otherwise what is in this package will kill you within seconds if you are exposed to it."

"What exactly is in the package?" Vido asked as the salarian guards went around handing vaccine vials to the Blue Suns soldiers.

"An experimental bio-toxin that was created on Noveria. Binary Helix, the company that created it, calls it Thoros-B."

* * *

Back on the hill outside the building, Shepard had nearly dropped his binoculars when he heard the Dalatrass' last statement. The mission was complicated enough with Dalatrass Linron entering the equation. Now he finds out that she is planning to attack to the krogan with a bio-toxin. To top it off, this particular toxin was one Shepard had come across before.

Shepard had previously come across the bio-toxin Thoros-B when he was chasing the rogue Spectre Saren Arterius. His search brought him to a Binary Helix research facility on the planet Noveria. Thoros-B was one of the projects they were running when their facility was locked down due to the escape of some experimental rachni. The Thoros-B project was designed to create a toxin that could kill a creature discovered on a frontier world. It was later decided that a toxin that could only kill one species would not generate a profit so they altered it to affect multiple species. There was no doubt in Shepard's mind that this toxin could kill the krogan if it was released on Tuchanka.

Shepard looked down to Zaeed who was still lying on the ground with his eye pressed to his sniper scope. He decided it was time to let Zaeed get his revenge. The plan was simple. Zaeed would fire one shot to shatter the window thus removing the only obstacle between him and Vido. Shepard would spot the bullet to see where it ended up and then give Zaeed instructions to adjust his aim for the kill shot. If it worked, this would all be over in a few seconds.

"I've heard enough Zaeed," he said, "take the shot."

"With pleasure," said Zaeed.

Zaeed took a breath and fired. Shepard followed the bullet with his binoculars and watched as it went through the meeting room window causing the glass to shatter. The shattering glass caused everyone in the room to either duck under the table or step to either side of the window and out of view.

"The bullet went up and about a foot to the left." Shepard said to Zaeed.

"Roger that," Zaeed replied, "as soon as I see that bastard's head again I'm taking it off."

It felt like minutes but it was only a couple seconds when Vido slowly started to peak his head out from under the table. Once Zaeed had it in his scope, he began to slowly pull the trigger. Shepard's tongue slid across his upper lip as he anxiously waited for the shot.

"WHACK!"

The sound that Shepard heard next was not a gunshot. He turned towards the source of the sound only to discover that Zaeed was lying unconscious with his rifle lying next to him. There was also a slightly noticeable lump on the back of his head. Shepard turned around further to find himself staring down the barrel of a shotgun held by a turian. Standing next to the turian was a batarian that was keeping his weapon focused on Zaeed. The weapon had a noticeable scuffmark on the butt from where it made contact with Zaeed's head.

"Well, well," the turian said to the batarian, "if it isn't the legendary hero Captain Shepard, Alliance soldier and Council Spectre. Call the chief and tell him that we found the person that human woman was sending messages to."

While the batarian made his call, the turian gestured to Shepard to get up. The shotgun pointing right at his head severely limited Shepard's options. He put his hands on his head and got up. After the batarian finished the call, he picked up Zaeed and threw him over his shoulder. The turian then proceeded to lead Shepard to a shuttle with the batarian carrying Zaeed right behind him.


	13. 2-5

Shepard woke up in what appeared to be an interrogation room. It had four walls, a door and a table. The last thing he remembered was him and Zaeed getting into a shuttle and then a sharp blow to the back of his head. Though his head hurt he couldn't help but respect how smart the guards were. They must have figured that he was less dangerous unconscious rather than not.

Zaeed! Zaeed was with Shepard in the shuttle and the guards but now there was no sign of either of them. He tried to move his arms but found that they were tied to the back of the chair. A quick assessment of his situation told him that it was hopeless. The only way he was getting out was if he could persuade the guards to let him go. It was a shame that he couldn't just pull his Spectre rank and force them to release him. Still his powers of persuasion had gotten him out of tighter spots before.

His thoughts were interrupted when the door to his room opened. In walked the turian and batarian who caught him and Zaeed. The batarian had a file in his hand. After opening it, the batarian threw it onto the table in front of Shepard. Shepard could see from the information in the file that it was about him. He looked up to the batarian but it was the turian who spoke first.

"I'm Sergeant Talon and this is Corporal Provic," he said, "we know who you are Captain Shepard. I have to say your record is quite impressive. Says you're a real hero. Do you have anything to say about that?"

Shepard replied "Where's Zaeed and Commander…?"

"(SMACK)"!

Sergeant Talon smacked Shepard across the face before he could finish his question. Corporal Provic jumped when he heard the smack. He probably didn't expect it to get this rough so soon. Shepard had not expected the blow and instantly felt the shock and pain of it. He shook off the pain and looked back up at Talon. His face was now tense with anger.

"That was a rhetorical question," said Talon, "I don't care what you have to say. So you can just keep your mouth shut. All I care about is the fact that you and your friends tried to kill someone on this base. You're an attempted murderer Shepard. That's a far cry from a hero if you ask me. Then again, you Spectres think that you can do whatever you want and will not be held accountable for your actions."

Before continuing, Talon threw a punch right into Shepard's stomach. Shepard hunched over more in surprise rather than pain. The blow hurt but not as much as the slap across the face. If Talon's goal was to inflict as much pain to Shepard as possible he was off to bad start. Of course Shepard didn't plan on telling him that.

"Well that is not the case here Shepard. Your Spectre status means nothing here. You're an ordinary guy just like me. Actually I take it back. You're beneath me because I don't try to kill unarmed men who are in the middle of a peaceful negotiation."

This time instead of striking Shepard across the face, Talon grabbed him at the back of the head and threw it down onto the table. The sound of the impact was loud enough that it echoed inside the room. Shepard tried to reach up and rub his forehead but couldn't because they were still restrained. All he could do was try to shake it off. Provic took a step towards Shepard but stopped when he saw Talon give him a cold stare.

"Sir," he said softly, "don't you think we should take it easy? The chief said that we could play with him all we wanted as long as we don't kill him."

"Shut it Corporal!" Talon ordered. "I'm in command here, not the chief. If you have a problem with this, the door is right there."

As Provic and Talon argued, Shepard reassessed his situation. Talon obviously had a strong hatred for Spectres. It was strong enough that Shepard had no doubt that he would be willing to kill him without the need for another reason. There was no chance of Talon letting Shepard speak long enough to warn them about the Dalatrass and Vido's plan.

Provic on the other hand seemed to be a bit hesitant to get rough. He already tried to get Talon to ease up but got nervous when Talon pulled rank. Shepard had a hunch though that Provic was more scared of their chief than he was of Talon. Provic was going to have to be the one Shepard appealed to for help. If Shepard mentioned the attack to him, maybe he'll take it to the chief and then the chief would order Talon off. It was worth a try.

"Listen to me," he mumbled, "there's going to be an attack on Tuchanka."

"(SMACK)!"

"I didn't say you could talk."

Despite the attempt by Talon to shut Shepard up, Provic caught what he said. He immediately got in between Talon and Shepard.

"Wait a minute Sergeant," he said, "he said there was going to be an attack on Tuchanka. The chief may want to know about this."

Shepard realized his theory was right. Provic was starting to get interested in what he had to say. He also noticed that Provic was insisting that the chief should know about the attack. The question was why would the chief really be interested in hearing what Shepard had to say? Shepard figured that question would have to wait for later. He needed to give Provic more information.

He continued, "tell your chief the Blue Suns and the Dalatrass are behind it. That's why we were here trying to…"

Talon didn't listen to either Provic's pleas or Shepard's request. Instead he angrily shoved Provic towards the door and threw the table to one side of the room. Afterwards he kicked Shepard in the chest causing him to fall backwards. The pain Shepard felt on his forehead was quickly forgotten when the back of his head struck the floor. Up until now, Shepard silently took every blow Talon gave him. This time he let out a grunt when he felt the impact. When he opened his eyes again, he saw that Provic was no longer in the room. He hoped that Provic was on his way to get the chief. Then he realized that Talon was standing over him pointing a shotgun right at his head.

"You Spectres will say anything to save your skin." Talon growled, "nothing you want to say can save you. So do what I've been telling you to do since I got in here and keep your mouth shut. Otherwise I'm going to be really tempted to skip the firing squad and just shoot you myself."

That last statement made Talon smile and then he began to chuckle.

"You know what," he continued, "that actually sounds quite enjoyable."

Talon then took the shotgun's safety mode off and moved it so that the barrel was now pressed against Shepard's forehead. It caused some slight discomfort because of the earlier blows Shepard took but he didn't care. A shotgun shell fired at point blank range would blow his head to pieces and he wouldn't be feeling anything anymore. He closed his eyes and waited for the end.

* * *

A few minutes earlier:

Ashley had been nervously pacing for a while ever since she was left inside an interrogation room. Before the krogan security chief had a chance to ask any questions, he took a call that made him leave the room after it ended. Ashley couldn't help thinking that they might have found Shepard and something bad happened to him. Her fears were relieved a little when the door opened and the security chief threw Zaeed into the room. Zaeed started to rub a lump on the back of his head when he got up from the floor.

"Zaeed," Ashley said walking up to Zaeed, "where's Captain Shepard?"

"He's fine," said the chief, "he's in another room with two of my men."

Zaeed cleared his throat, "I've got a nasty bump on the back of my head but I'm all right too. Thanks for asking."

"Sorry Zaeed," said Ashley, "I'm glad you're okay. Chief I demand to see my captain!"

"You'll get your chance to see him when we put you all in front of the firing squad!" shouted the chief.

"Firing squad?!" exclaimed Zaeed. "You sentence us to a firing squad just like that?"

"Those are the rules around here. The goal of this facility is to provide a safe place for all parties to negotiate without having to be afraid of being killed. Any attempted murder is treated as a capital offense and is punishable by death."

For emphasis, the chief ran his finger across his throat like he was slitting it with a knife. Zaeed growled while Ashley gave the chief an angry stare. This caused the chief to smile. He had gotten their attention. He decided to push them a little further.

"Your captain will be here soon. My men said they wanted a chance to '_play'_ with him before we shoot him."

That was all Ashley could take. She charged at the chief with her fists flying. Zaeed was barely able to grab her to keep her from reaching the chief. The chief didn't even flinch. His smile just grew larger as he watched Ashley fight to break free from Zaeed.

"YOU BASTARD!" Ashley shouted, "IF YOU LAY ONE FINGER ON HIM I SWEAR TO GOD I'LL KILL YOU!"

"Calm down Williams!" said Zaeed struggling to hang on to Ashley.

Suddenly the door to the room burst open and Corporal Provic charged in. He was slightly out of breath as he approached the chief and whispered something to him. The chief's reaction indicated that it was something that seemed to spook him.

"Is he serious?" he asked the batarian.

"If you want to find out you better come quick," the batarian replied, "the sergeant is starting to get really rough with him. I think he might kill him."

The chief shoved the batarian out of his way and exited the room in a hurry. The batarian turned around to see Zaeed loosening his grip on Ashley. There was no point in holding her back now. She was now falling to her knees and had one hand cupped over her mouth. It also sounded like she was whispering "no."

* * *

Sergeant Talon was laughing as he slowly began to pull the trigger on his shotgun. Shepard's eyes remained tightly shut as he anticipated the shot. His eyes opened when he heard a crash. He looked towards the source of the sound and saw that it was the door having been broken down. Standing in the doorway was the biggest krogan Shepard had ever seen. The krogan was angrily staring at Talon.

"Stand down Sergeant!" he ordered. "The corporal tells me that this human has information about an imminent attack on Tuchanka."

"He's lying Chief," said Talon not taking his eyes away from Shepard, "he's just a Spectre making up stories in an attempt to save his own skin."

Chief? Shepard silently breathed a sigh of relief. The krogan was the chief that Provic was talking about. It also explained why Provic insisted the chief should hear what he had to say. Only a krogan would care that much about the safety of Tuchanka. Still Shepard felt it would be wise to ensure he had the chief's attention.

"Do you have a family Chief? Living on Tuchanka perhaps?"

Whatever anger the chief had displayed on his face vanished and he started to look a little nervous. He hesitated as he contemplated how to answer. But Shepard didn't need him to answer. The hesitation was all he needed to figure out that the chief did have a family on Tuchanka. It was true that Shepard took a shot in the dark asking him but he knew if he did, it was the best way to get the chief's attention. The only thing a krogan cares for more than fighting was their family.

"The man we were shooting at is the leader of the Blue Suns mercenary group and they are being hired to release a bio-toxin in a densely populated region in Tuchanka. If you value your family's safety, you will let me and my squadmates go so that we can stop them."

The chief fell silent for a second. Talon finally turned to face the chief. His face indicated he was shocked and appalled.

"Chief you can't tell me you believe what this guy is saying," he said, "he's bluffing. There isn't going to be an attack on Tuchanka. Even if there was, there's no guarantee that your family will be killed by it.

"Maybe," said Shepard, "but even if the attack doesn't kill them, the following war certainly will."

"What war?" the Chief asked.

"Chief! I'm telling you….!"

Without hesitation, the chief pulled out his sidearm and pointed directly at Talon's head. Talon flinched when he stared down the gun's barrel. He slowly began to lower his shotgun away from Shepard's head. His mouth began to open in an attempt to speak but the chief just shook his gun to indicate that he was serious. The chief then gestured his head towards the door. Talon got the message and grumbled as he made his way towards the door.

Once the door closed behind him, the chief holstered his sidearm and pulled out a knife. He then bent down and cut the restraints off Shepard's hands. Now that his hands were finally free, Shepard reached up and rubbed his forehead. It was still slightly sore from the beatings Talon gave him. He then rubbed his wrists to help get the circulation going again. It was then he noticed the chief holding out his hand. Shepard took it and the chief slowly helped him up.

"Now," the chief said as he leaned against the wall, "what's this about a war?"

"The person who hired the mercenaries is a salarian dalatrass who is going to use the attack I mentioned to make the krogan go to war with the other races. This will force the Council to fight back and they might feel they have no choice but to do something worse than the genophage to ensure that the krogan can't rise up against them ever again."

The chief rubbed his chin as he contemplated what Shepard had told him. He was frozen with indecision. He knew that the laws of the base said that Shepard and his squad needed to be legally executed for attempting to commit murder. On the other hand, if Shepard was telling the truth, his family and the krogan species as a whole were in danger. He finally decided that he had no choice. If anyone could save the krogan, it was Shepard. After all, he had heard the stories about how Shepard helped to cure the genophage. The chief walked back towards the door and opened it. He then gestured for Shepard that he could leave.

"Just promise me you'll kill that pyjak dalatrass and the mercenary leader," he growled.

"I can't promise I'll kill the dalatrass, there would be severe repercussions if I do," Shepard replied, "but I promise that I will kill the mercenary, especially because one of my squadmates wants him dead just as much as you do. Speaking of which, where is my squad?"

"In another room like this one," the chef replied, "I'll have Corporal Provic bring them to the front entrance and you can meet them there."

"Good, as long as it isn't Talon."

"It won't be. I'll have him sent to my office. He and I are going to have a _LONG_ talk once I see you off."

"Thanks Chief," Shepard said who proceeded to walk out of the interrogation room.


	14. 2-6

Ashley, Zaeed and the shuttle were already waiting for Shepard when he got to the main entrance. Corporal Provic was also there. After reassuring everyone that he was fine despite the bruises on his face, Shepard thanked Provic for his assistance and walked with Ashley and Zaeed to the shuttle. Once on board, Shepard proceeded to fill Ashley in on everything that he and Zaeed learned about the Dalatrass and Blue Suns plan while overhearing the meeting. As Shepard went through the details, Ashley became more and more distraught.

"Man," she finally said, "I know you said that the Dalatrass was hard to negotiate with but is she crazy enough to do this?"

"Unfortunately she thinks what she's doing is for the good of the galaxy," Shepard replied, "if someone believes that hard enough they are capable of doing anything. The Illusive Man was willing to do things worse than this all because he thought he was helping humanity."

"So what do we do now Shepard?" Zaeed asked.

"Traynor," Shepard said speaking to the intercom, "patch a call to Tuchanka. I want to be able to talk to Urdnot Wrex when I'm back on the Normandy."

"Right away Captain," said Traynor's voice over the speaker.

Shepard turned his attention back to Ashley and Zaeed, "I need to warn Wrex the visiting dignitary shuttle is not what it claims to be and stress that it is absolutely vital that he doesn't try to shoot it down."

"Why the hell not?" Zaeed interrupted. "One shot and both of our problems would be taken care of. Vido will be dead and the toxin will be destroyed. It's killing two birds with one stone."

"We can't shoot that shuttle down because the Dalatrass is going to be on board. She may not be popular with the salarians right now but if we kill their Dalatrass than the war that we're trying to avoid might start anyway. The best solution is to have that shuttle land. Wrex will make sure that the shuttle doesn't leave and around that time we will be on Tuchanka and make the arrest."

"What about the toxin skipper?" Ashley asked. "I remember you mentioning that you dealt with Thoros-B on Noveria but the Dalatrass made it sound like the toxin may have been modified since then."

"I know I caught that too. There's one person who might be able to tell us what she was talking about. We just have to hope that he still feels like he owes me after what I did for him back on Noveria."

* * *

Inside the captain's cabin of a freighter heading for Tuchanka, Vido Santiago was nervously pacing back and forth. Dalatrass Linron was in the cabin as well sitting at a desk. She had been watching Vido pace for several minutes now and the silence was killing her.

"Would you just calm down," she said, "I talked with the base security before we left and they said they have Shepard and his squad in custody. Even with his Spectre status Shepard can't bully his way out of jail and he's too weak willed to shoot his way out. So relax because there's nothing he can do to interfere with our plans."

Vido growled, "I would be willing to believe you Dalatrass if it wasn't for the fact that one of Shepard's squadmates is Zaeed Massani. Shepard may not be willing to shoot his way out of a jam but Zaeed wouldn't hesitate to do it if it meant getting a chance at taking me out. Zaeed was with Shepard when he tried to kill me last time. They didn't succeed but one of their bullets killed the guy sitting next to me on our escape ship. That was a little too close for comfort. Now they tried to take me out again and were only stopped because they were caught by security. We have an old human saying Dalatrass that says 'third time is the charm.' I just know that if Shepard and Zaeed get the chance to take me out again they will succeed."

"Don't worry. Even if they do escape, we'll be in and out before they have the chance to get to Tuchanka."

Before Vido could respond, there was a knock at the door. The door opened and a turian stepped into the room and saluted Vido.

"Sir," said the turian, "the Hammerhead is loaded for our mission and we are now on course for Tuchanka. We should be there in a few hours."

"Very good," Vido replied, "that will be all."

The turian saluted and exited the cabin. Once he was certain that he was out of earshot of Vido and the Dalatrass, he pulled up his omni-tool and put through a call. He waited a few seconds for the call to be answered while constantly scanning his surroundings to be sure no one could hear him. Finally the person he was calling answered.

"It's me," the turian replied, "We had a close call back at the base….Yes it was Shepard….it's okay everything is back on track….(gulp) boss I am well aware of the consequences if this fails and I can assure you that it won't. …no I promise that Shepard won't be able to stop us this time….yes boss….over and out."

The turian let out a nervous sigh as he hung up the call. Every phone call he made to his boss always made him feel like he was inches away from death. Fortunately he survived this call. If he wanted to continue to stay alive all he had to do was ensure the mission was successful. With this thought, he headed back to his post. It was going to be a long flight to Tuchanka.

* * *

"Captain, are you awake?"

After returning to the Normandy and finishing his call to Wrex, Shepard retired to his cabin to get some sleep before arriving at Tuchanka. His sleep was interrupted however when Traynor paged him over the intercom.

"I am now," Shepard said with a yawn, "did you manage to put a call through to Dr. Cohen on Noveria?"

"He's on the line waiting to speak with you now."

"Thanks Traynor. I'll take the call in here."

The call Shepard wanted Traynor to make was to Dr. Zev Cohen, an employee of the Binary Helix corporation's base on Noveria. Dr. Cohen was the person in charge of the Thoros-B project. While Shepard was on Noveria, Dr. Cohen was trying to treat some Binary Helix personnel who were accidentally exposed to the toxin. Despite some hesitation to trust Shepard due to his confidentiality agreements with the company, Dr. Cohen gave Shepard the info he needed to make a cure and save all the victims. Now Shepard had to see if Dr. Cohen would be willing to return the favor.

Shepard pushed a few buttons on a terminal and was soon greeted by a video image of Dr. Cohen. For the most part, he hadn't changed physically during the few years since Shepard last saw him. The same was true of Shepard so when Dr. Cohen saw Shepard's face he instantly recognized him.

"You?!" he said surprised, "when I heard I had a call from a Captain Shepard I didn't think you and he were the same person."

"I've been promoted since the last time I saw you Doctor," Shepard replied.

"So to what do I owe this surprise call?"

"Thoros-B."

The mere mention of the bio-toxin caused Dr. Cohen to become nervous. His eyes began to shift back and forth and he was uncomfortably shifting in his chair.

"Thoros-B?" he said, "that project was terminated years ago after the accident that would have killed my colleagues had it not been for your help."

Shepard sighed, "Doctor I really wish you wouldn't lie to me. Binary Helix wouldn't let a powerful and potentially profitable bio-toxin like Thoros-B go to waste regardless of how many people nearly die in the process. I know that your company is still working on the project and that you've created a new and improved version of the toxin. I also know that you've already sold a sample to a client. What I don't know is what makes this version better than the old one."

Dr. Cohen didn't respond and continued shifting uncomfortably in his chair.

"Please Doctor," Shepard pleaded, "you owe me. If it hadn't been for me, your co-workers would have died because of this toxin."

Finally Dr. Cohen spoke, "I'm sorry Captain but I can't tell you anything about Thoros-B. My confidentiality agreement with the company prohibits me from discussing any projects with outsiders."

Shepard leaned back in his chair and started drumming his fingers on his desk. He was doing it loudly enough to ensure that Dr. Cohen could hear it on his comm. It seemed that pleading and calling in the favor were not working and Shepard was starting to get impatient. There was only one card left for Shepard to play: guilt. It was how he got him to cooperate last time so it had to work now.

"Doctor the client that you sold the toxin to is planning on releasing it on Tuchanka and provoking the krogan into starting another Krogan Rebellion. It hasn't even been a year since the Reaper War ended and the last thing this galaxy needs is for another war to start."

"What?" Dr. Cohen said surprised. "I can't believe they would do something like that."

"Believe it Doctor. Now I'll ask you one more time. What is so special about this new strand of Thoros-B?"

Dr. Cohen sighed, "after you saved my co-workers, the company felt that it showed that Thoros-B was no good as bio-toxin. The victims had been exposed to the bio-toxin for days but you were still able to save them. The company wanted something that would kill its target instantaneously. This new version does just that. The second someone is exposed to it, they're dead."

Shepard banged his fist on the desk, "Dammit! That means even if we came up with an antidote we would be dead before we could administer it. That practically makes stopping that toxin a suicide mission. We either stop it or we'll be dead as well as the krogan."

"That's not entirely true Captain. Binary Helix may not have wanted an antidote to be able to work but I was not about to create an unstoppable killing machine. I developed a vaccine that, if administered, will protect the user from the effects of this new strand. It works just as instantaneously as the toxin so you can inject it seconds before exposure and you will still be protected. I'll send you the formula for it right now."

This news gave Shepard a small glimmer of hope. It would be impossible to distribute the vaccine to all the krogan before the Blue Suns released the toxin but at least it was not going to be a suicide mission for him and his squad anymore.

"Just be careful Captain," Dr. Cohen continued, "if you know who our client is, you should know how powerful they are. You don't take someone like that lightly."

"Thanks for the advice Doctor and for the info. It will help us out a lot. Before I go I would suggest that you start looking for another employer."

"Excuse me Captain?"

"After I deal with this current crisis, I'm taking down Binary Helix. Noveria may be willing to let illegal experiments be conducted but Noveria is in the Attican Traverse, which is under Council jurisdiction. As a Council Spectre I have every authority to deal with Binary Helix as I see fit. If Binary Helix is going to insist on making illegal weapons and selling them without any regard for the safety of civilians, than it doesn't deserve to exist. Understood?"

"Understood Captain, and I will certainly take it under consideration. I wish you the best, Cohen out."

The comm. shut down and the image of Dr. Cohen was gone. With the call ended, Shepard activated the ship's intercom to page Dr. Karin Chakwas, the Normandy's chief medical officer.

"Dr. Chakwas," he said, "I'm sending you a formula for a vaccine I received from Dr. Cohen. I need you to make as much of it as you can before we reach Tuchanka."

"Yes Captain," Dr. Chakwas replied, "I'm looking at the formula now. It looks simple enough. I'll get right on it."

After Dr. Chakwas signed off, Shepard got up from his chair and walked over to lie back down on his bed. He was slightly tired when Traynor first woke him up to take the call from Dr. Cohen. After using all his negotiation skills to get the information he needed, he was exhausted. With the Normandy getting closer to Tuchanka, the best time for Shepard to get some sleep was now. As Shepard thought about how once again he found himself with the fate of the krogan people in his hands, he slowly drifted off to sleep.


	15. 2-7

The Kodiak shuttle flew over the barren wasteland that was the krogan homeworld. Tuchanka endured years of nuclear war before the salarians uplifted the krogan to fight in the Rachni War. Any efforts to restore Tuchanka to its pre-war state were halted after the genophage was released and the krogan descended into a life of selling themselves out as mercenaries. Tuchanka had become nothing but a radioactive pile of rubble. Lately however, that was no longer the case.

Ever since the genophage was cured and the Reaper War ended, the krogan clan chief, and former squadmate of Shepard's, Urdnot Wrex was able to convince the clans to forget about wanting revenge on the salarians and turians for the genophage and focus on rebuilding. As Shepard sat in the co-pilot's seat looking out towards the horizon, he could already see signs of improvement since the last time he was on Tuchanka. There were some construction cranes working on the remodels. Also the color green was more abundant since last time due to the increased amount of plant life that had sprouted on Tuchanka. Shepard just couldn't help but wonder if the Dalatrass could see all this improvement and new life that was growing, would she still think that the krogan would rebel.

In the passenger compartment behind him, Ashley and Zaeed were doing a last minute weapons check. Shepard and Zaeed knew that Vido would never surrender so there was no doubt a gun fight was going to ensue when they arrived. There was no room for any weapon malfunctions.

Zaeed was especially taking a thorough time on his beloved assault rifle "Jessie". During the Reaper War, he purchased materials to help him restore the rifle to working condition. It served him well during the final battle on Earth. He told Shepard before they left the Normandy that he had no doubts that he was going to get Vido this time because instead of a sniper rifle, "Jessie" was going to be on the job.

"Captain," said the shuttle pilot Lieutenant Steve Cortez, "I've got the landing zone on sensors, ETA five minutes."

"Copy that Lieutenant," Shepard said as he turned back towards Zaeed and Ashley, "all right people let's go through the plan once more before we land."

Before Shepard could continue, an alarm started beeping on the Kodiak's dashboard. A transmission was coming in. Shepard pushed a button to answer the call and was greeted by the sound of gunfire. Something was wrong.

A voice soon emerged over the sound of the gunfire, "Shepard, this is Wrex. It's a mess down here! That Blue Suns commander you warned me about figured out that I've been trying to keep them here until you arrived. His men have opened fire. They're trying to get him and the Dalatrass back to their Hammerhead ground vehicle. Aralakh Company is trying to slow their retreat but I don't know if you'll get here in time."

"Hang in there Wrex," said Shepard, "we'll be there soon. When we get there we'll try to land the shuttle between them and the Hammerhead and cut them off. It is imperative that we don't let them leave with that bio-toxin."

"You don't need to tell me twice. Just get here soon."

"Copy that, Shepard out. Change of plans people! Our LZ is hot and our targets are on the retreat. Once we touchdown, get to cover and start picking them off. No one gets past us."

"Got it skipper," said Ashley.

"What are the rules of engagement Shepard?" asked Zaeed.

"The Dalatrass is not to be harmed under any circumstances. As for Vido and the Blue Suns, if you have a shot, take it."

Zaeed smiled, "those are the best damn orders I think you've ever given Shepard. Let's do this."

Shepard got up from the co-pilots seat and joined Ashley and Zaeed in the passenger compartment. The shuttle was beginning to make its descent. As they waited for the doors to open, Shepard could already hear bullets hitting the shuttle. He figured they must have gotten to the LZ just in time to cut off the retreat. They still had a chance.

The doors opened and Shepard was greeted to the sight of a war zone. It was nowhere near as bad a war zone as the battlefields on Earth during the Reaper War but it was still a brutal sight. The good news was it was only brutal for the Blue Suns. It's not easy to put down a krogan and the Blues Suns were finding that out the hard way. There were a few Blue Sun bodies down on the ground but there was no sign of any krogan casualties. But there was one thing that didn't make sense to Shepard. The Blues Suns were still quite a distance away from their Hammerhead. From what Wrex told him, he thought they would have been cutting it close intercepting their escape. They may have been taken fire from the krogan but it wouldn't have slowed them down that much. What were they waiting for?

Off in the distance, Shepard spotted a two story structure next to where the Hammerhead was parked. The structure had definitely seen better days but it seemed sturdy enough for an idea he had. He ordered Cortez to take an out of the way route to get to the structure. Doing so would allow them to land on the roof without being detected by the Blue Suns troops below. From there, they would set up sniper positions and flank the Blue Suns from behind with minimal risk to themselves.

As soon as Cortez touched the shuttle down, Shepard and the squad hopped out and laid down flat on the edge of the roof. Each person pulled out their sniper rifles and zeroed their sights and the still retreating Blues Suns troops. Shepard's plan had worked as the Blue Suns had no idea they had landed behind them. Shepard told everyone to hold until the Blue Suns got closer. When they all had clear shots on the troops, Shepard started counting down "three…two…one…FIRE!"

Three shots were fired and three Blue Suns troopers went down. Sensing what happened to their comrades, the Blue Suns realized they were being flanked by Shepard's squad. It didn't matter because they couldn't see where Shepard's squad was firing from. They started panicking as the situation for them went from bad to hopeless. Between the fire from Shepard's squad and the krogan's fire, they were getting decimated. Within the course of a few minutes, the battle was over and the last of the Blue Suns troops fell dead.

When the gunfire was silenced, Shepard and his squad holstered their sniper rifles and pulled out their assault rifles. They then proceed down to the base of the structure and exited out onto the battlefield. Keeping their weapons raised, they scanned the field looking for stragglers. Convinced there weren't any, Shepard and his squad holstered their weapons and Shepard ordered them to start checking the bodies to see if Vido or the Dalatrass were among them. He then headed towards where he last saw the krogan troops. He nearly jumped when a loud voice called out to him from near the end of the battlefield.

"SHEPARD! It seems we keep running into each other in combat zones."

Shepard couldn't help but smile when he saw who the voice belonged to. It was Urdnot Grunt, the leader of Aralakh Company. Grunt was a tank bred krogan that Shepard released when he was recruiting for the Collector suicide mission. Despite being initially hostile, Shepard was able to recruit him to join the mission. Later Shepard helped him complete his rite of passage and become a full adult krogan and a member of Clan Urdnot. When the suicide mission was over, Grunt returned to Tuchanka and was later chosen by Wrex to be the head of Aralakh Company.

Shepard later crossed paths again with Grunt during the Reaper War. Wrex had asked Shepard to help Grunt and Aralakh Company investigate reports of trouble in the rachni system. They eventually discovered that the Reapers had captured the Rachni Queen and were using her to breed an army of indoctrinated rachni workers. They were able to rescue the queen but at the expense of the rest of the Aralakh Company. Grunt even stayed behind to hold the rachni back so that Shepard and his squad could escape. Fortunately Grunt survived but was out of action for several days. Once he was back on his feet, he got back in the fight in time for the final battle on Earth.

"It's good to see you again too Grunt," said Shepard as he reached to shake Grunt's hand, "we thought we'd stop by and help but it looks like you were doing fine on your own."

"We sure were," said Grunt with a chuckle, "these pyjaks were shaking in their boots once they saw who they were up against. Even so it was fun fighting with you again. By the way, we've got a present for you."

Grunt turned to face his men who were gathered behind him. He waved one of them over and the soldier stepped out from the crowd and he had the Dalatrass with him.

"We caught the Dalatrass when she took a tumble running to the Hammerhead. My men were on her before she had a chance to get up. Some of my men wanted to tear her head off but I told them that you and Wrex wanted her alive and that's how we were going to give her to you."

"Nice work Grunt. We'll take her back with us and send her back to her people. Once they find out what she's been up to I'm sure they will finally strip her of her title and lock her up for attempting mass genocide."

"They should be thanking me," said the Dalatrass, "they were all too weak to do what needs to be done to ensure our protection from these brutish monsters."

Shepard turned to face the Dalatrass. His face was crossed with anger as he walked toward her. He stopped just inches from her face.

"The only monster I see right now Dalatrass is you," he growled, "Williams!"

"Sir!" Ashley said snapping to attention.

"Get the Dalatrass out of here."

"It will be my pleasure sir."

Ashley took the Dalatrass from the krogan soldier and escorted her to the shuttle. Shepard then joined Zaeed who was scanning the faces of the casualties. As he scanned each face, he started to get nervous. He looked over to Zaeed who was getting angrier the more faces he scanned. Something told Shepard that he and Zaeed were coming to the same conclusion. When Ashley returned, she noticed the looks on their faces and realized what was wrong as well.

"Shepard," said Zaeed, "where the hell is Vido?!"

Zaeed's question was answered the Hammerhead's engines started and the vehicle began to lift into the air. Soon afterwards, the door opened and Vido stepped into the doorway. Shepard instantly figured out why the Blue Suns weren't trying to get to the Hammerhead faster. They were holding the krogan back so Vido could reach the Hammerhead safely. To make matters worse, Shepard noticed that the bio-toxin case was sitting on the floor next to Vido and he was holing a small cylinder in his hand. Shepard figured it must have been the detonator. He then glanced over to see that Zaeed was starting to raise his rifle and was pointing it at Vido.

"Zaeed hold your fire!" he shouted.

"You would do well to listen to him Zaeed," said Vido, "one push of this button and you will be dead before you get the chance to pull the trigger."

Zaeed held his position one more second before finally letting out a low growl and lowered his weapon.

Shepard held his hands up as he slowly approached Vido's Hammerhead.

"Vido there's no point in this going on," Shepard said, "we have the Dalatrass in custody. Even if you succeed in releasing the bio-toxin, you're not going to get the rest of your credits."

Vido didn't say anything right away. Then he smiled and laughed.

"You've got to be kidding Shepard," Vido said when he stopped laughing, "did you really think that I was working for her? She's just a whiny salarian having a tantrum because she doesn't want to give up her precious title. I normally wouldn't waste my time with someone like her. But the Dalatrass was my client's representative so I had to do whatever she said. Fortunately I don't need the Dalatrass to finish the job. So long Shepard and you as well Zaeed. I have a city full of krogan to eliminate."

After saying his farewell, Vido closed the Hammerhead's door and the vehicle flew away. Shepard ordered Zaeed, Ashley and the krogan to fire on the Hammerhead in an attempt to disable it. Unfortunately it soon became apparent that the Hammerhead was too far away to get an accurate shot.

"Come on Shepard," said Zaeed, "maybe we can catch the bastard using the shuttle."

"Hold it Shepard," Grunt said, "the city that the Hammerhead is heading for is at the other end of a canyon. It's too narrow for a shuttle to fire accurately from above. Plus if you try to fly through it, you won't have room to maneuver if you come under fire."

"Then what do you suggest Grunt?" asked Shepard.

"We take a Mako and go after him."

"That's your suggestion?!" Zaeed exclaimed, "a Mako is slower than a Hammerhead. How do you expect us to catch him with that?"

"There's a tunnel that we can use as a shortcut. We go through that and we'll actually end up in front of the Hammerhead. Then, if we come under fire, the Mako can maneuver by driving up and down the slopes of the cliffs."

Shepard sighed, "I don't think we have a choice Zaeed. It sounds like the Mako is our only option. All right Grunt, take us to the Mako."

Grunt led the trio to a nearby M35 Mako. Aside from the lack of Alliance logos, it didn't look too different from the Mako Shepard used to drive on the original Normandy SR-1. As they boarded the Mako, Shepard felt into his pocket and realized there was one more problem that they had to deal with.

Dr. Chakwas was right in that the formula for the bio-toxin vaccine was simple. The problem was the process of making it took longer than she had hoped. She was only able to make three vials of the vaccine before the Normandy reached Tuchanka. Now on the Mako with a squad of three people and two spare vaccines, Shepard knew someone was going to have to stay behind and he knew exactly who it was going to be.

"Williams you're not coming with us," he said.

"What are you talking about?" said a confused Ashley.

"There are four of us but I only have three vaccines. You know Zaeed is not going to be willing to miss the chance to take down Vido and I need Grunt to help drive the Mako."

"You're not doing this without me skipper."

"We'll be fine. The vaccines will protect us if we can't stop the bio-toxin from being released. I'm sorry but this is the only way."

Ashley opened her mouth to speak but realized it was pointless. Shepard was right. Before turning to walk off the Mako, Ashley pulled Shepard towards her and kissed him.

"Just promise you won't die on me hero-man," Ashley said when the two of them separated, "you still have to marry me first."

Shepard smiled, "I promise."

"And we promise to ensure he keeps that promise, now can we get going?" said Zaeed destroying the romantic moment.

After one more hug, Ashley stepped off the Mako and the doors closed behind her. She turned around to see the Mako racing off after Vido's Hammerhead. Once it was out of her sight, she turned to head towards the shuttle.

"Cortez," she said on her comm., "have the shuttle ready for takeoff. We're taking the Dalatrass back to the Normandy when I get back."

"What about the Captain?" Cortez's voice replied.

"He's with Zaeed and Grunt. They're taking a Mako after Vido and his Hammerhead. I had to stay behind because we didn't have enough vaccines for all of us."

"Ma'am did you say they were taking a Mako?"

"Yeah why?"

"I don't want to worry you Ma'am but Makos have nothing that gives them an edge against Hammerheads."

"This one does Lieutenant. It has Captain Shepard driving it."


	16. 2-8

Inside the Hammerhead, Vido was opening the package containing the bio-toxin. He hooked up the toxin to a terminal and began typing some commands. When the last button was pushed, the terminal displayed a timer and a beating heart. Vido smiled when the display came up. He then walked up towards the driver's seat. The turian that met him in his quarters on the freighter was in the driver's seat.

"The bio-toxin is hooked up and ready for dispersal," said Vido, "how much longer until we reach the city?"

"Not much longer sir," the turian replied, "we are just about to reach the point where we will begin to cause casualties. The further we go past that point, the more casualties we will inflict."

"Excellent."

Suddenly an alarm sounded on the dashboard. The turian pushed a few buttons and the alarm silenced.

"What's wrong?" Vido asked.

"Sensors are picking up a vehicle within our radar range. Based on its course, it will end up in front of us and block our path to the city."

"Shepard," Vido growled.

Suddenly a thought came to Vido and a smile began to form on his face. He then leaned forward and whispered something to the turian. The turian sharply turned to face Vido. What Vido said had terrified him.

"SIR THAT'S SUICIDE!" he shouted nearly losing control of the Hammerhead.

"I don't recall ASKING you to do it. I recall giving you an order. DO IT!"

With that last order, Vido walked back to the passenger compartment. The turian looked back to see that Vido was out of earshot. Convinced Vido was, he pulled up his omni-tool and patched a call. When the call went through, he put it off speaker so there was no chance Vido could hear the recipient's voice.

"It's me….Boss I may have a problem….Shepard is blocking our path into the city….yes… well Commander Santiago has an idea but….Boss it's suicide!...(gulp) I understand….yes Boss….don't worry….the mission will still be completed….Out."

The turian's omni-tool disappeared as the call ended. He sat quietly driving the Hammerhead as many thoughts ran through his head. Finally he decided that he had no choice but go along with Vido's plan. He may die doing it but it would be a better death than whatever one his boss would give him if he didn't. He turned to face Vido in the passenger compartment.

"Sir I'm ready to go whenever you are."

* * *

Following Grunt's directions, Shepard steered the Mako into the tunnel that would allow them to reach the city before Vido. He knew Zaeed was right about the Mako's slow speed being a problem but Shepard always preferred the Mako vs. the Hammerhead. The Mako could travel over most of the terrain a Hammerhead could. Also, in his opinion, the Mako's lack of speed was compensated by the fact it could take more hits than a Hammerhead. This was the edge Shepard was hoping would help them when they confronted Vido.

The tunnel was narrow and Shepard could see why Grunt recommended the Mako. Even a skilled pilot like Cortez would have a hard time flying through it without crashing. With a ground-based vehicle like the Mako, Shepard navigated the tunnel with no problems. He kept glancing at the radar but so far they weren't picking up anything. He figured the tunnel was blocking the radar's signal. Eventually they reached the end of the tunnel and ended up on the path to the city. As soon as they exited the tunnel, a blip appeared on the radar. Based on its location, the Hammerhead had not passed them yet. Grunt's plan worked and they still had a chance to stop Vido from reaching the city.

"Look," Grunt said pointing at the radar, "something's wrong."

Looking at the radar, Shepard could see that Grunt was right. The blip that was Vido's Hammerhead was not moving. The Hammerhead was just sitting there.

"Zaeed," Shepard said turning to face the passenger compartment, "take a peek outside and see if you can get a visual on what Vido's doing."

Zaeed nodded and began climbing up to the hatch on the roof. Shepard and Grunt continued watching the radar. What was Vido doing? A few seconds later, Zaeed came back down. He was shaking his head.

"I can see the Hammerhead but there's no movement coming from it," he said, "they're just sitting there. I don't like it. That bastard's up to something."

Shepard was about to nod in agreement when the radar started beeping. Everyone turned their attention back to the radar and saw that the Hammerhead was moving and it was coming full speed right at them. A second later, an explosion outside rocked the Mako. The Hammerhead was firing at them.

"Zaeed get on the gun!" Shepard ordered. "Grunt get us moving!"

Grunt gunned the engine as soon as Shepard gave the order. Zaeed was already making his way up towards the gun. The Mako charged fast towards the Hammerhead. Shepard watched as the blip on the radar moved closer to the center. He knew that the Hammerhead had maneuverability but if they timed their fire just right, they could disable the Hammerhead before it had a chance to react.

Suddenly Shepard's attention was caught by the sound of the Hammerhead firing on them again. Fortunately Grunt saw it coming and was able to drive the Mako up the slope of canyon. The Hammerhead's shell impacted right where the Mako originally was. Now that the Mako was moving it was harder for Shepard to notice the explosion rock the tank.

Suddenly Zaeed's voice was heard, "hey can you guys keep the tank still? It's hard enough to aim this thing with the Hammerhead moving."

"Steady Zaeed!" Shepard replied. "Just do your best to get the Hammerhead in your sights!"

Zaeed called back, "will do Shepard. Just say the word and I'll blow this bastard to hell!"

"Steady….steady…..FIRE!"

The Mako's mass accelerator cannon let out a loud boom as a 155mm shell shot out towards the Hammerhead. A second later, another explosion came as the shell made impact and the Hammerhead swerved a bit. Unfortunately, despite direct hit, the Hammerhead was able to straighten itself out and continued to come at the Mako. As the Hammerhead drew closer, Shepard realized that it was not making any efforts to move around them. It was like the Hammerhead was playing chicken with them. Shepard was not one to consider himself chicken but he was not extremely suicidal either.

"HIT THE THRUSTERS GRUNT!" Shepard shouted. "GET US IN THE AIR NOW!"

Grunt hit the thruster button hard. The four micro-thrusters ignited and began to lift the Mako off the ground. It took a second but the Mako managed to lift off high enough that the Hammerhead clearly flew by underneath it. Not stopping to continue engaging the Mako, the Hammerhead continued on course towards the city.

As the Hammerhead flew away, Zaeed was already trying to turn the cannon around to get the Hammerhead back in its sights. Grunt was also trying to turn the Mako around to continue pursuit but Shepard knew that it would be pointless. The Mako was just too slow and would never catch the Hammerhead before it reached the city. The best they could do was pray that Zaeed would nail the Hammerhead before it got out of the Mako's gun range. At the speed the Hammerhead moved however, that meant Zaeed had only one shot to do it. Shepard didn't plan on telling him that though.

"Take the shot when you have it Zaeed," he called.

Zaeed kept his finger squarely on the trigger and his one good eye focused on the Hammerhead. Once he was certain the Hammerhead was locked on, he fired. The shell seemed to fly through the air in slow motion towards the Hammerhead. After what felt like minutes, the shell struck the Hammerhead on the right side hoverjet. The explosion that followed damaged the hoverjet enough that it powered down. Without the second hoverjet to keep it blanced, the Hammerhead tilted to the side and made contact with the ground. It then began to spin uncontrollably until it crashed head-on into the canyon walls.

The trio in the Mako let out a loud cheer after watching the Hammerhead crash. Once they settled down, Grunt drove the Mako closer to where the Hammerhead crashed. All the while the trio closely watched the wreckage. They had to be sure that the Hammerhead didn't try to fly away again. At the rate Hammerhead's could repair themselves, anyone still alive on board could get the vehicle moving again quickly. Eventually the Mako reached the Hammerhead and there had still been no sign of movement.

"I think we got him Shepard," said Grunt.

"You bet we got him," Zaeed called above, "that shot was brilliant."

"Well there's only one way to find out" Shepard said as he got up from the driver's seat to open the Mako's door.

As soon as the trio was out of the Mako, each one of them pulled out their assault rifles and advanced on the Hammerhead. Shepard was concentrating on the Hammerhead's door, Zaeed watched the back end and Grunt focused on the roof. The plan was to cover all possible spots where Vido could pop out and fire on them. Shepard knew however that it was unlikely he would. Unless Vido was dead or severely injured, he would have had the Hammerhead up and running before Shepard and the squad had a chance to approach it. The fact the Hammerhead stayed where it was meant that the former options were true.

When they finally got close to the Hammerhead, they got in a line along the wall next to the door. Grunt was in front with Shepard and Zaeed behind him. Shepard signaled for Grunt to open the door. When it was opened, Shepard and Zaeed moved around Grunt and stood in front of the doorway with their rifles raised. They scanned inside and didn't see anyone inside the passenger compartment.

"(Moan)"

A moan from the driver's seat caught their attention. Shepard signaled for Zaeed to wait outside while he went inside to check it out. Slowly Shepard moved his way inside. He continued to scan for any other signs of life. Upon seeing no movement, he came to the conclusion that the lone moan in the driver's seat must have come from the only person who was inside with him.

Shepard's attention was then caught by the bio-toxin. The container the toxin was in appeared to be intact. He also noticed it was connected to a terminal. The terminal displayed a timer but for some reason it wasn't counting down. There was also a picture of beating heart next to the timer. Shepard figured that as long as the timer wasn't counting down he should be okay. He continued moving towards the driver's area.

Shepard holstered his rifle and pulled out his pistol. The pistol was better suited for close quarters. Finally he jumped into the driver's area with his pistol pointed towards where he heard the moan. The sight that greeted him left him confused.

"Zaeed," Shepard called out, "we have a turian in the driver's seat but Vido is nowhere to be seen."

"What are you talking about?!" Zaeed shouted back. "We saw him inside before the Hammerhead left for the city. When could he have gotten off?"

Suddenly Shepard put it together. The long time the Hammerhead held position before it charged at the Mako now made sense. Vido had to have gotten off during that time. That meant that the Hammerhead's charge was a diversion for…

"GET TO COVER!" yelled Shepard.

The order came too late. No sooner did Shepard give it that gunfire was heard outside the Hammerhead. It was followed by the sounds of Grunt and Zaeed groaning in pain. Shepard raced to the open hatch and saw Grunt and Zaeed on the ground. Their bodies were littered without bullet holes. Shepard wanted to run out to help them when he saw Vido step out from behind some nearby boulders with his rifle raised and began firing at him.

Shepard was barely able to duck back into the driver's area as bullets flew into the Hammerhead. When the bullets struck the walls, shrapnel and other debris started flying around. The wall between the driver's area and the passenger compartment was the only cover protecting Shepard from the debris. He wanted to return fire but with so much debris flying it was impossible for him to do so without getting hit. Finally the gunfire ceased and Shepard heard footsteps from Vido entering the Hammerhead.

"I know you are in there Shepard," he called. "very slowly I want you to throw all your weapons out to me."

Thinking about the potential fate of Zaeed and Grunt made Shepard want to just step out from the driver's area and blow Vido away. But he knew it was pointless as Vido would gun him down before he had a chance to pull the trigger. Trapped and alone with no obvious way out, Shepard had no choice but oblige. He tossed out his pistol and then pulled out and tossed his assault and sniper rifles. The next sound he heard was Vido kicking the weapons out of the Hammerhead. This was followed by the sound of Vido walking towards him. Finally Vido stepped into the driver's area and held his pistol right at Shepard's head. All the while he was menacingly smiling at him.

"You really should have stayed on that moon Shepard," Vido said with a laugh, "now I have no choice but to kill you too. Nothing personal you understand. I just can't have you continuing to interfere with my business. Goodbye Shepard."

(BANG)

Shepard had closed his eyes in anticipation of the shot. To his surprise, his eyes opened again and he was unharmed. The same could not be said for Vido. There appeared to be a bullet exit wound on his forehead and he appeared to be as confused as Shepard about what had happened. Vido's eyes then rolled up into his sockets as he fell to the floor dead.

After Vido had fallen, Shepard looked up to see Grunt and Zaeed in the passenger compartment. Zaeed was holding "Jessie" in his hand and there was a small trail of smoke coming from it. Grunt was standing next to him and appeared to be holding Zaeed up on his feet. Despite the bullet wounds, Grunt seemed to be fine. Zaeed on other hand started to collapse. Shepard shot up to help as Grunt began setting Zaeed down.

"You okay Grunt?" he asked.

"I'm fine Shepard," he said, "it takes more than a few bullets to bring me down. I don't think Zaeed is doing so well though. He told me to play dead and wait for Vido to pass. He lost a lot of blood while we were on the ground."

Zaeed's face was pale and his head started to drop like he was trying to go to sleep. Shepard gently patted his face to try and keep him awake.

"Zaeed stay with me," said Shepard, "I'll give you some medi-gel, Grunt and I will get you out of here and you'll be patched up in no time."

"Don't bother Shepard," Zaeed groaned, "It's too late. I know I'm not going to make it. I always knew it would end something like this."

"Come on Zaeed don't talk like that. I'm not going to let you die now."

"Please Shepard. It's okay. I've been dead for more than twenty years, ever since Vido betrayed me and shot me in the head. I'm just lucky I lived long enough to take him down with me."

A tear started to fall down Shepard's face, "you did more than that Zaeed. You helped me save the galaxy…twice."

"Yeah, we ended up becoming big goddamn heroes after all. I never could have done any of this without your help Shepard. Thank you."

"You bet."

Zaeed then did something Shepard couldn't remember ever seeing him do. He smiled. Then Zaeed's head bowed down as he breathed one final breath. The legendary bounty hunter Zaeed Massani was dead.


	17. 2-9

Shepard and Grunt didn't have time to mourn as they suddenly heard a beeping sound coming from the terminal connected to the bio-toxin. Shepard ran over to see that the beating heart icon had stopped and the timer was counting down. It didn't take long for him to figure out what was going on. The timer was linked with a heartbeat monitor that monitored Vido's heart rate. The idea being that once Vido was dead and his heart stopped beating, the timer would begin counting down. Now Shepard had less than five minutes to disarm the device. He started typing a few buttons to see if he could find the disarm commands. He finally found it but when he opened the commands, a message popped up. When Shepard read the message, his heart sank.

"DISARMING MECHANISM DISABLED"

"Dammit,' Shepard cursed.

"What's wrong Shepard?" Grunt asked.

"Vido sabotaged the device," Shepard said, "I can't disarm it."

"Well then I say we smash it."

"There's no way to guarantee that would stop the device from working. Maybe I can dismantle it and remove the triggering mechanism."

Unfortunately it didn't take long for Shepard to see that his idea was not going to work. The likely spot where the important hardware would be housed was behind a steel plate that was screwed into place. It was going to take him too long just to take off the plate. Despite having a thorough knowledge of explosives, he wouldn't have enough time to find the trigger mechanism. Shepard realized that Vido chose five minutes as the time because he knew no one could disable it in that amount of time.

From Shepard's point of a view, the situation was hopeless. Vido knew what he was doing with the device. He set the bomb in such a way so that once it was armed, there was no chance of being disarmed before it released the toxin. Two minutes had gone by while Shepard assessed his situation and now there was only three minutes left. Even though they were still a ways out from the city, the toxin would still kill a lot of krogan.

Grunt was able to figure out the same thing when he saw the sense hopelessness on Shepard's face. He looked out the door and could see the city in the distance. Krogans were not easily willing to admit defeat. As Grunt stared out towards the city, he knew that he would not do that now. There was one thing he could try. It might not help a lot but it would do some good and in his mind it made it worth trying. First he had to be sure that there was nothing Shepard could do to talk him out of it.

A noise got Shepard's attention and he looked up to see Grunt taking the turian from driver's seat and throwing him out of the Hammerhead. Shepard walked over to Grunt to find out what he was doing but was surprised when Grunt proceeded to pick him up and throw him out as well. He was slightly dazed from the landing but quickly got to his feet and turned to get back into the Hammerhead. But he found the door to be closed and heard the engines revving up. He quickly activated his comm. and tried to get through to Grunt but got no response. Unable to do anything else, Shepard just watched as the Hammerhead turned away from the city and flew away.

When he couldn't see the Hammerhead anymore, Shepard turned his attention to the turian that Grunt threw out before him. He started to apply some first aid to the wounds the turian sustained when the Hammerhead crashed. It was then that he finally heard a reply from Grunt.

"Sorry I had to throw you out Shepard but I didn't think you would approve of what I'm doing," he said.

"What exactly are you doing Grunt?" Shepard asked slightly agitated.

"I figured if we can't disarm the device then I can at least get it out somewhere where it won't do any damage."

"Grunt there was less than three minutes on the timer. You're not going to make it in time."

"I HAVE TO TRY SHEPARD! THESE ARE THE LIVES OF MY PEOPLE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT! Would you just sit around if it was your people who were in danger?"

Shepard sighed, "No I wouldn't. Just make sure you take that vaccine I gave you before the timer goes off. I already lost one friend today. I don't want to lose another one."

"Don't worry Shepard. I'll be fine. Grunt out."

After Grunt signed off, Shepard pulled out his own vaccine vial and injected himself with it. He pulled out his spare vial and went to give it to the turian but found that he was dead. Shepard figured the crash must have done more damage to the turian than he thought. He began to call the shuttle for an extraction when he noticed something strange. The turian's omni-tool was visible like it had been recently used. Shepard quickly pulled out his own omni-tool and tried to see if he could sync it with the turian's. The sync proved successful and Shepard pulled up the turian's recent activity. The only thing listed was that the turian had sent a message seconds before he died. Unfortunately the message was deleted after it was sent so Shepard couldn't see its content or find out who the recipient was. It couldn't have been Vido because he was already dead and the Dalatrass was in custody. Could it have been Vido's real client? His thoughts were interrupted when he heard Grunt's voice on the comm.

"Shepard, are you there?"

"What is it Grunt?" he replied.

"Something's wrong. The timer reached zero but the bio-toxin didn't get released."

"Say again?"

"The bio-toxin is not being released. Maybe the device failed."

"Maybe. Better to be safe than sorry though. Get it out of the city's range."

"I'm almost clear now. At least if it decides to go off now it won't hurt anyone. Okay Shepard. I'm at the minimum safe distance."

"Great. Park the Hammerhead. I'll call the shuttle and have it…"

(KA-BOOOOM)!

Before Shepard could finish his statement, a loud explosion was heard coming through his comm. For a second he thought he had gone deaf. When he recovered he looked towards the direction of the Hammerhead. It was small but off in the distance Shepard could see a pillar of smoke. Quickly Shepard tapped his ear to restore his comm.

"Grunt what happened?" he said.

Silence.

"Grunt are you okay?….Come on Grunt talk to me!…..GRUNT!"

Sadly only silence responded to Shepard's cry. Dejected, Shepard dropped to his knees. He just couldn't believe what had happened. Within a matter of a few minutes, two of his friends were dead. Despite killing Vido, capturing the Dalatrass and saving a major krogan city from a bio-toxin attack, Shepard felt like he failed the mission.

He was also feeling confused. Too many things didn't make sense. Why didn't the bio-toxin get released when the countdown ended and what caused the explosion? When the timer reached zero the bio-toxin was still in close enough range to kill a few krogan in the city, which Shepard thought was the point of the attack. Why did nothing happen until after Grunt got out of range of the city? It made no tactical sense and Vido was a tactical man who would not have allowed a mistake like that to happen. Plus the fire from the explosion that did happen would have vaporized the toxin before any damage could be done. So why release the toxin that way?

As Shepard sat there pondering these questions, a voice was calling him over his comm. It was Ashley checking on his status.

"What's happening down there skipper?" she asked. "We could see the explosion from up here in the shuttle. Are you alright?"

"Williams…" Shepard began to say but couldn't quite finish.

"Skipper?" Ashley said, her voice showing more signs of panic.

Shepard took one more breath and finally spoke, "the city is safe. The explosion was outside the lethal range and Vido is dead."

Shepard could hear Ashley breathe a sigh of relief, "that's great news sir. We got the Dalatrass onto the Normandy. Cortez and I are on our way to…."

"Ash," Shepard interrupted calling her by her first name, "Grunt and Zaeed are dead."

This time it was Ashley's turn to be silent for a minute.

"What?" she gasped. "How?"

"I….I don't know," said Shepard who was now starting to sob, "I just…don't know. Dammit Ash, nothing that happened here makes sense. We find out Vido wasn't actually working for the Dalatrass, nothing happened when the bio-toxin countdown ended, and for no apparent reason the Hammerhead explodes right when Grunt got it outside the toxin's lethal range. I…I just don't understand it. What is going on here Ash?"

"I wish I knew," Ashley replied, "I'm having Cortez pilot the shuttle towards your comm. signal. We'll pick you up and head back to the Normandy. Maybe we can figure out some stuff once we're on board."

"I hope so."

With that said, Shepard got off his knees and sat down to wait for the shuttle to arrive, all the while looking towards direction of the smoke pillar.

* * *

Over the course of the next few days, several major events and investigations occurred. The first was an investigation into the explosion of the Hammerhead. Salvage teams determined that the device Shepard found on board did contain samples of Thoros-B. If the device had worked properly, it would have been dispersed and a lot of krogan would have been lost. Unfortunately they couldn't determine why the device failed. They did however find a spot underneath the Hammerhead that looked like a blast zone. This indicated that a bomb had been placed underneath it and explained what caused the explosion Shepard saw. Unfortunately no one could explain why a bomb was there in the first place.

Dalatrass Linron was brought before the Council and other leaders in the Salarian Union to face charges of conspiring to commit mass genocide. Her plea for everyone to understand that everything she did was all in the galaxy's best interest fell on deaf ears. She was found guilty of the charges and was stripped of her title before being sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole. Despite the charges, the Council offered her a lighter sentence if she would tell them the name of the client that she represented in her negotiations with the Blue Suns. The Dalatrass declined the deal all the while claiming that she didn't work for anyone and the operation was all her doing. The only explanation anyone could come up with was whoever the client was, they were someone powerful enough that they were even capable of scaring the Dalatrass into silence.

Shepard stayed true to what he told Dr. Cohen and launched a raid on Binary Helix's base on Noveria. The raid's goal was to shut down the facility and extract Dr. Cohen. Shepard realized back on Tuchanka that he only assumed Dr. Cohen was referring to the Dalatrass when he talked about the client who bought the Thoros-B samples. Yet Dr. Cohen never mentioned the client's name. Shepard needed Dr. Cohen to tell him who the actual client was. When the raid was over, all employees found at the base were taken into custody and the facility was shut down. Sadly Dr. Cohen was found in his office dead. When Shepard questioned the staff to find out what happened, all they said was that they were ordered to kill him. Shepard figured that the client must have realized Dr. Cohen was a loose end and paid Binary Helix to silence him.

With no other leads to go on, Shepard turned to Liara for one last attempt to ID the client. He sent her the turian's omni-tool data to see if she could recover the content of the last message he sent or trace where it was sent. Despite every trick she had up her sleeve, Liara was unable to recover the content of the message. She did however make one critical discovery. The message was sent to an extranet address that was encrypted in a similar way as the bank account that funded Balak's coup attempt seven months ago. Unfortunately the encryption was still just as unbreakable as it was back then and she couldn't I.D. the owner of the extranet address. Overall, the mission to save the krogan was a success but the investigation into the events led to more questions than answers.

* * *

Make a Choice:

The wedding you have been waiting for is finally here. Before you get to it however, you have to make a choice that determines whether or not one particular character will be in attendance.

If you've read my "Extended" Extended cut, you know that there's a part in the story where I gave the readers a chance to choose the fate of EDI. Since this story takes place during the three year gap in that story, in true Mass Effect style, I have to come up with a scenario that covers the effects of each choice. The choices are as follows.

1.) If you chose to have EDI perish in the "Extended" Extended cut, simply click the next chapter button on the bottom right corner to see how the wedding proceeds without her in attendance. (My personal canon choice)

2.) If you chose to have EDI survive the "Extended" Extended cut, click on the chapter selection button next to the next chapter button and skip ahead to chapter 19 to see her attending the wedding as one of Ashley's bridesmaids.

The choice is yours.


	18. 2-10 The Wedding (Version 1)

Inside the Normandy's captain's cabin, Shepard was putting the final touches on his Alliance dress uniform. All the while he was looking at the man staring back at him in the mirror. He wanted to see the face of man who was slightly nervous but happy about what was coming. Instead all he saw was a depressed man. The thought of losing Zaeed and Grunt was still on his mind. Shepard then turned on the sink and rinsed his face with warm water. It was his hope that the water might clear his head. Unfortunately it didn't.

Shepard was so distracted that he didn't hear his cabin door open. Nor did he hear his turian friend, and former squadmate, Garrus Vakarian enter. Garrus was one of the few people who had been on Shepard's crew throughout the entire conflict with the Reapers. During that time, he became one of Shepard's most loyal squadmates and closest friends. Now Garrus was there for Shepard once again. This time it was to fill a role that required him to wear a formal outfit similar to the one he wore when he and Shepard hung out at the Silver Coast Casino on the Citadel. The main difference between the two was this one was colored blue.

"I know I'm still not quite familiar with my duties as best man," he said, "but I'm fairly confident one of them is informing you that the guests are all seated and we are ready to begin the ceremony."

Shepard just remained staring at the mirror.

"Are you alright Shepard?" Garrus asked.

"Hmm?" Shepard said after finally noticing Garrus standing nearby, "oh I'm fine thanks. I'll be down in a minute."

Garrus didn't show any sign he was convinced, "Come on Shepard. You and I have known each other long enough that I can tell when something is bothering you."

Shepard sighed, "There are going to be two empty seats down there Garrus. I just can't believe that Zaeed and Grunt are gone."

Garrus stepped towards Shepard, "I know. Both of them were tough bastards. I didn't think anything could have taken them down. But there was nothing you could have done to save them. I know it's tough to think about but I'm sure the last thing the two of them would have wanted would be to have their deaths ruin your spirits on your wedding day. Have you seen Ashley in her dress yet?"

Shepard looked at Garrus confused, "of course not. There's a superstition that says a groom can't see the bride in her dress before the wedding."

Garrus smiled and then put a hand on Shepard's shoulder, "Good. Now I know you will soon feel better."

"What do you mean?"

"When you look down that aisle and you see Ashley in her wedding dress for the first time, I guarantee that you will be so mesmerized by her beauty that you won't be able to keep yourself from smiling."

Shepard chuckled and a small smile began to grow on his face. Garrus always knew what to say to help lift his spirits. He gave Garrus a pat on the back as a thank you and the two of them walked out of the cabin and rode the elevator down to the cargo bay.

* * *

Back when Shepard proposed to Ashley, it was suggested by the crew that they could get married on the Normandy. Laughing it off at first, Shepard and Ashley decided that the Normandy was the best choice. It was also decided that they would be docked on Earth, the homeworld of humanity and Shepard. The plan was after the ceremony ended, Shepard and Ashley would have Cortez pilot the getaway shuttle and take them on a lap around Earth. They would then return for the reception on the Normandy's crew deck.

The Normandy's cargo bay was chosen as the wedding venue because it was the only spot on the Normandy big enough to accommodate all the guests that had been invited. It was also easier for Shepard to avoid seeing Ashley by not giving him a reason to go to the crew deck where Ashley's XO cabin was located. All kinds of decorations covered the cargo bay. Even the shuttle was decorated for its role as the getaway vehicle. Also in the cargo bay was a curtain that draped across the armory area so that the wedding party could all step off the elevator at once but not be seen until they marched down the aisle for the procession.

Shepard stood at the end of the bay near the cargo doors. Next to him was the minister that he and Ashley hired to perform the ceremony. Since he and Ashley were both religious people they wanted their marriage recognized not just by the Alliance, but by God as well. Behind Shepard and the minister was a raised platform that they would step on with Ashley after she was given away. Shepard then scanned the crowd and saw it was filled with so many familiar faces:

· Miranda Lawson and her sister Oriana

· Jacob Taylor and his wife Brynn and their baby daughter Jane

· Samara

· Kasumi Goto

· Jack

· Lieutenant James Vega

· Wrex's wife Urdnot Bakara and their baby son Urdnot Mordin

· Kelly Chambers

· Dr. Chakwas, Lieutenant Greg Adams, Engineer Kenneth Donnelly, Engineer Gabriella Daniels, Lieutenant Steve Cortez, Comm. Specialist Samantha Traynor and all other currently serving crew members on the Normandy

· Feron, Liara's boyfriend

· C-Sec Commander Armando-Owen Bailey

· Dr. Chloe Michel

· Ashley's sisters: Lynn and Sarah

· Councilor Steven Hackett, Councilor Tevos and all the other Citadel Councilors

It was then Shepard noticed the two empty seats that were supposed to be filled by Grunt and Zaeed. With all the other seats being filled it was hard not miss the empty ones. Just a few days ago they were both alive and well and could have been there. It was taking a lot of effort for him to keep the smile on his face.

Fortunately, Shepard's thoughts were interrupted when the "Processional" began playing over the intercom. He looked down the aisle to see the curtain was opening to reveal the wedding party. The first to enter was Joker and Ashley's sister Abby. Joker was wearing his Alliance dress uniform and Abby was in a blue bridesmaid dress. They began their march walking side by side but Joker's Vrolik Syndrome made him unable to move very fast.

The next pair to enter was Wrex and Admiral Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, a quarian and another one of Shepard's former squadmates. Wrex was wearing the blue colored outfit that was the krogan equivalent of formal wear. When Wrex learned he had to wear formal wear for the wedding, he insisted that he looked ridiculous in it and wanted to wear his battle armor instead. But when confronted by "bridezilla" Ashley, Wrex decided that he didn't look as bad in formal wear like he originally thought. Tali was wearing a similar dress to Abby's and, in a sight unseen by anyone in the crew except Shepard and Garrus, she was unmasked. Thanks to the upgrades the geth had given her people before the Crucible destroyed them, her immune system had been improved to the point that she could go long periods of time without her mask.

The final pair to enter was Garrus and Liara, the best man and maid of honor respectfully. Liara was wearing the same blue dress as Tali and Abby. Fortunately it was shade of blue that did not blend in with her blue skin.

The music silenced when Garrus and Liara reached the end of the aisle. Then the song "Here Comes the Bride" began to play and everyone in the audience rose and turned to face the curtained off armory. Shepard was taking a few quick nervous breaths in anticipation of what was behind the curtain. Garrus noticed and gave Shepard an encouraging pat on the back. Finally the curtain was drawn back and the biggest smile Shepard ever had on his face began to appear.

There, standing at the end of the aisle, was Ashley in the most beautiful wedding gown Shepard had ever seen. It was a pure white color with a mermaid shape. The shoulders were see-through with some opaque flower patterns. She was also wearing gloves that ran halfway up her upper arms. Finally she had a veil that ran a little more than halfway down her back. Shepard realized that Garrus was right. He couldn't help but smile at the sight before him. Despite the veil covering Ashley's face, Shepard could see through it just enough to see that she was smiling as well.

Walking Ashley down the aisle was her mother. When Shepard first met her in person, he realized it was no mystery where Ashley got her beauty from. Ashley was the spitting image of her mother. Before that, Shepard had first met Mrs. Williams via vid-com. It was a bit awkward for him because he was in a hospital bed recovering from his injuries sustained during the final battle of the Reaper War and it was also when he asked for Mrs. Williams' permission and blessing to marry Ashley. Despite never having met Shepard before, Mrs. Williams said that based on his reputation and everything Ashley and her sister Sarah had to say about him, she had no doubt he was the perfect fit for her daughter. Now months later, here she was about to give the bride away.

When Ashley and her mother had reached the end of the aisle, the minister asked for all the guests to be seated. He then opened his book and began the ceremony.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here in the presence of God to join this man and this woman in holy matrimony. This is an important moment in their lives. In the time these two have been together, their love and understanding of each other has grown and matured. Now they have decided to live their lives together as husband and wife. Who gives this woman to be wedded to this man?"

"I do," Mrs. Williams replied.

Mrs. Williams then turned to Ashley and gave her a hug before Ashley took her place next to Shepard. The couple then followed the minister up onto the platform. Once they were in position, the minister asked for Shepard and Ashley to join hands.

"Mark," the minister continued calling Shepard by his first name, "do you take this woman to be your true and wedded wife; to solemnly promise before God and these witnesses to love, cherish, honor and protect her: to forsake all others for her sake; to love her and her alone until death do you part?"

"I do," Shepard replied.

"Ashley, do you take this man to be your true and wedded husband; to solemnly promise before God and these witnesses to love, cherish, honor and protect him, to forsake all others for his sake; to love him and him alone until death do you part?"

"I do," Ashley replied.

"Mark, please repeat these vows after me."

Shepard proceeded to repeat the vows the minister gave him, "I, Mark Shepard, take you, Ashley Williams, to be my lawfully wedded wife, my constant friend, my faithful partner and my love from this day forward. In the presence of God, our family and friends, I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow. I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals, to honor and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you, and to cherish you for as long as we both shall live."

The minister nodded and asked for Ashley to repeat after him. Ashley's vows consisted of the same words as Shepard as she promised to take him as her lawfully wedded husband. Once she was finished, the minister asked for the rings. Garrus and Liara both handed the minister a ring. The minister gave a ring each to Ashley and Shepard. He then asked them to place a ring on the other's left ring finger while saying the words 'with this ring, I thee wed.' After the rings had been exchanged, the minister gave the final proclamation.

"By the power vested in me by the Systems Alliance and the church of our lord God, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Shepard then turned to Ashley and lifted her veil. The smile he could barely make out when it was covered was now clear. He smiled back as their lips came together for their first kiss as husband and wife. The kiss lasted for about five seconds. When their lips parted, they turned to face the crowd while the minister raised his arms before he addressed the crowd.

"Friends, family, honored guests, it is my honor to present to you for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Mark Shepard."

Everyone in the crowd rose to their feet. The crew and Ashley's family were cheering and applauding the loudest. The councilors were doing a simple politicians applause but the smiles on their faces (at least the faces that could be seen) indicated they were genuinely happy for the couple. A few seconds after the applause started, the "Wedding March" began to play over the ship's intercom. Shepard offered Ashley his arm. She happily accepted and they walked down the aisle back towards the curtained off armory. The rest of the wedding party and the minister followed right behind them.

While the wedding party was behind the curtain filling out the marriage license with the minister, the guests gathered to form lines on both sides of the door to the shuttle. Cortez was standing right by the door wearing his Alliance dress uniform minus the hat. Instead he was wearing a hat typical of a 20th century English chauffeur. A limousine the shuttle was not but Cortez thought he'd do his best to look the part. The guests began pulling out vials filled with liquid used for blowing bubbles. It was explained to the non-human guests that in old days, it was customary to throw rice as the couple entered their getaway vehicle. Then it was discovered that rice was fatal to local wildlife so blowing bubbles became the new custom. Finally the wedding party joined the guests in the lines and informed them that Shepard and Ashley would be out any moment.

Suddenly, the armory curtain opened and Shepard and Ashley came running towards the shuttle. The guests began cheering and applauding again. They also began blowing bubbles and soon Shepard and Ashley were speed walking down an aisle of people with bubbles floating above their heads. When they reached shuttle, Cortez held out his hand to help Ashley onto the shuttle. Shepard followed right behind her. As Cortez stepped onto the shuttle to head for the pilot's chair, Shepard and Ashley turned around to wave to the guests while the shuttle door closed. Despite the door being closed, the guests continued to wave as the shuttle began to take off. The cargo doors opened and the shuttle flew towards them and flew away from the Normandy.

As the shuttle began its lap around Earth, Shepard and Ashley took their seats. Cortez had engaged the holographic windows so that they could look out and see the sights of Earth fly by. Shepard alternated his attention between the views outside the shuttle and Ashley's smile. Ever since he first met her on Eden Prime, he saw something special in her. Now here they were as husband and wife. The loss of Zaeed and Grunt was still on his mind but as he leaned in to give Ashley another kiss, he knew that as long as he had her in his life, the future was looking very promising.

* * *

Back in their office in an underground bunker, the lone figure nervously tapped their finger on their desk while staring at their comm. terminal. The turian was supposed to have called in to give his final report days ago. The figure knew that they had warned the turian multiple times that it was vital that the operation be a success. Of course they also warned the batarian that phase one had to succeed but then he bungled that one. Another failure and the figure's plan would have no chance of succeeding.

Further adding to the figure's frustration was an Alliance News Network story that was airing on a television screen on the wall to their left. The news anchor had just turned the report over to ANN reporter Diana Allers who announced that Captain Shepard and Lieutenant-Commander Ashley Williams had tied the knot in a private ceremony aboard the SSV Normandy. The report then cut to some pictures from the wedding that the couple had allowed to be shown. As the pictures of Shepard and Ashley cycled on the screen, the figure's impatience quickly turned into anger.

The figure was about to get up from their desk and give up waiting when a beep suddenly emitted from the terminal. A message was coming through. The figure opened it and was initially concerned when it was discovered that the message was not video or audio. The concern vanished as they began to read the message. As they read, a smile began to appear on their face.

* * *

Boss,

If you are reading this message, then, unfortunately for me, I didn't survive the mission. I was right, Commander Santiago's plan was suicide.

I'm sorry if this message took so long to get to you but I had to ensure that this message couldn't be intercepted or traced to your location. So I sent it on a low priority comm. channel. Even if someone were to try and locate the channel, it would take days for them to think of checking this one. By then it will be too late. Believe me though when I say that you're waiting for my report was worth it.

Phase two was a success. All objectives have been accomplished.

* * *

The figure didn't even bother reading the rest of the message. The last two sentences were the only thing that mattered to them. With phase two being a success, the plan was still in motion. The figure proceeded to open up a comm. channel. Once it was opened, an asari's face appeared on the monitor.

"Boss," she said, "what can I do for you?"

"I just got a report from our turian friend," the figure replied.

The asari sighed, "do you need me to eliminate him like he and our human friend took out the batarian?"

"That won't be necessary. He's already dead but he did his job. Phase two was a success."

"That's wonderful news Boss. Should I inform our salarian friend to prepare to commence phase three?"

"Unfortunately there's too much heat right now. We're going to have to wait a while for things to settle down. Then when everyone least expects it, we can continue with the plan. Tell our salarian friend to lay low and await further instructions."

"Understood Boss, out."

When the comm. terminal went blank, the figure turned their attention to a picture frame on their desk. The sight of the picture caused a tear to form in one of the figure's eyes. The picture was of a woman. She was smiling but it wasn't enough to make the figure smile. Instead they picked up the photo and ran their fingers across the woman's face. The tear fell from their face and landed on the picture.

"It won't be long now sis," the figure said to the picture, "I promise that Shepard is going to pay for what he did to you."

**END OF PART 2**


	19. 2-10 The Wedding (Version 2)

Inside the Normandy's captain's cabin, Shepard was putting the final touches on his Alliance dress uniform. All the while he was looking at the man staring back at him in the mirror. He wanted to see the face of man who was slightly nervous but happy about what was coming. Instead all he saw was a depressed man. The thought of losing Zaeed and Grunt was still on his mind. Shepard then turned on the sink and rinsed his face with warm water. It was his hope that the water might clear his head. Unfortunately it didn't.

Shepard was so distracted that he didn't hear his cabin door open. Nor did he hear his turian friend, and former squadmate, Garrus Vakarian enter. Garrus was one of the few people who had been on Shepard's crew throughout the entire conflict with the Reapers. During that time, he became one of Shepard's most loyal squadmates and closest friends. Now Garrus was there for Shepard once again. This time it was to fill a role that required him to wear a formal outfit similar to the one he wore when he and Shepard hung out at the Silver Coast Casino on the Citadel. The main difference between the two was this one was colored blue.

"I know I'm still not quite familiar with my duties as best man," he said, "but I'm fairly confident one of them is informing you that the guests are all seated and we are ready to begin the ceremony."

Shepard just remained staring at the mirror.

"Are you alright Shepard?" Garrus asked.

"Hmm?" Shepard said after finally noticing Garrus standing nearby, "oh I'm fine thanks. I'll be down in a minute."

Garrus didn't show any sign he was convinced, "Come on Shepard. You and I have known each other long enough that I can tell when something is bothering you."

Shepard sighed, "There are going to be two empty seats down there Garrus. I just can't believe that Zaeed and Grunt are gone."

Garrus stepped towards Shepard, "I know. Both of them were tough bastards. I didn't think anything could have taken them down. But there was nothing you could have done to save them. I know it's tough to think about but I'm sure the last thing the two of them would have wanted would be to have their deaths ruin your spirits on your wedding day. Have you seen Ashley in her dress yet?"

Shepard looked at Garrus confused, "of course not. There's a superstition that says a groom can't see the bride in her dress before the wedding."

Garrus smiled and then put a hand on Shepard's shoulder, "Good. Now I know you will soon feel better."

"What do you mean?"

"When you look down that aisle and you see Ashley in her wedding dress for the first time, I guarantee that you will be so mesmerized by her beauty that you won't be able to keep yourself from smiling."

Shepard chuckled and a small smile began to grow on his face. Garrus always knew what to say to help lift his spirits. He gave Garrus a pat on the back as a thank you and the two of them walked out of the cabin and rode the elevator down to the cargo bay.

* * *

Back when Shepard proposed to Ashley, it was suggested by the crew that they could get married on the Normandy. Laughing it off at first, Shepard and Ashley decided that the Normandy was the best choice. It was also decided that they would be docked on Earth, the homeworld of humanity and Shepard. The plan was after the ceremony ended, Shepard and Ashley would have Cortez pilot the getaway shuttle and take them on a lap around Earth. They would then return for the reception on the Normandy's crew deck.

The Normandy's cargo bay was chosen as the wedding venue because it was the only spot on the Normandy big enough to accommodate all the guests that had been invited. It was also easier for Shepard to avoid seeing Ashley by not giving him a reason to go to the crew deck where Ashley's XO cabin was located. All kinds of decorations covered the cargo bay. Even the shuttle was decorated for its role as the getaway vehicle. Also in the cargo bay was a curtain that draped across the armory area so that the wedding party could all step off the elevator at once but not be seen until they marched down the aisle for the procession.

Shepard stood at the end of the bay near the cargo doors. Next to him was the minister that he and Ashley hired to perform the ceremony. Since he and Ashley were both religious people they wanted their marriage recognized not just by the Alliance, but by God as well. Behind Shepard and the minister was a raised platform that they would step on with Ashley after she was given away. Shepard then scanned the crowd and saw it was filled with so many familiar faces:

Miranda Lawson and her sister Oriana

Jacob Taylor and his wife Brynn and their baby daughter Jane

Samara

Kasumi Goto

Jack

Lieutenant James Vega

Wrex's wife Urdnot Bakara and their baby son Urdnot Mordin

Kelly Chambers

Dr. Chakwas, Lieutenant Greg Adams, Engineer Kenneth Donnelly, Engineer Gabriella Daniels, Lieutenant Steve Cortez, Comm. Specialist Samantha Traynor and all other currently serving crew members on the Normandy

Feron, Liara's boyfriend

C-Sec Commander Armando-Owen Bailey

Dr. Chloe Michel

Ashley's sisters: Abby, Lynn and Sarah

Councilor Steven Hackett, Councilor Tevos and all the other Citadel Councilors

It was then Shepard noticed the two empty seats that were supposed to be filled by Grunt and Zaeed. With all the other seats being filled it was hard not miss the empty ones. Just a few days ago they were both alive and well and could have been there. It was taking a lot of effort for him to keep the smile on his face.

Fortunately, Shepard's thoughts were interrupted when the "Processional" began playing over the intercom. He looked down the aisle to see the curtain was opening to reveal the wedding party. The first to enter was Joker and EDI. Joker was wearing his Alliance dress uniform and EDI was in a blue bridesmaid dress. They began their march walking side by side but Joker's Vrolik Syndrome made him unable to move very fast. When they reached the halfway point, EDI picked Joker up and carried him the rest of the way bridal style. Joker probably should have been embarrassed but even he couldn't help laughing along with everyone else.

The next pair to enter was Wrex and Admiral Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, a quarian and another one of Shepard's former squadmates. Wrex was wearing the blue colored outfit that was the krogan equivalent of formal wear. When Wrex learned he had to wear formal wear for the wedding, he insisted that he looked ridiculous in it and wanted to wear his battle armor instead. But when confronted by "bridezilla" Ashley, Wrex decided that he didn't look as bad in formal wear like he originally thought. Tali was wearing a similar dress to EDI's and, in a sight unseen by anyone in the crew except Shepard and Garrus, she was unmasked. Thanks to the upgrades the geth had given her people before the Crucible destroyed them, her immune system had been improved to the point that she could go long periods of time without her mask.

The final pair to enter was Garrus and Liara, the best man and maid of honor respectfully. Liara was wearing the same blue dress as Tali and EDI. Fortunately it was shade of blue that did not blend in with her blue skin.

The music silenced when Garrus and Liara reached the end of the aisle. Then the song "Here Comes the Bride" began to play and everyone in the audience rose and turned to face the curtained off armory. Shepard was taking a few quick nervous breaths in anticipation of what was behind the curtain. Garrus noticed and gave Shepard an encouraging pat on the back. Finally the curtain was drawn back and the biggest smile Shepard ever had on his face began to appear.

There, standing at the end of the aisle, was Ashley in the most beautiful wedding gown Shepard had ever seen. It was a pure white color with a mermaid shape. The shoulders were see-through with some opaque flower patterns. She was also wearing gloves that ran halfway up her upper arms. Finally she had a veil that ran a little more than halfway down her back. Shepard realized that Garrus was right. He couldn't help but smile at the sight before him. Despite the veil covering Ashley's face, Shepard could see through it just enough to see that she was smiling as well.

Walking Ashley down the aisle was her mother. When Shepard first met her in person, he realized it was no mystery where Ashley got her beauty from. Ashley was the spitting image of her mother. Before that, Shepard had first met Mrs. Williams via vid-com. It was a bit awkward for him because he was in a hospital bed recovering from his injuries sustained during the final battle of the Reaper War and it was also when he asked for Mrs. Williams' permission and blessing to marry Ashley. Despite never having met Shepard before, Mrs. Williams said that based on his reputation and everything Ashley and her sister Sarah had to say about him, she had no doubt he was the perfect fit for her daughter. Now months later, here she was about to give the bride away.

When Ashley and her mother had reached the end of the aisle, the minister asked for all the guests to be seated. He then opened his book and began the ceremony.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here in the presence of God to join this man and this woman in holy matrimony. This is an important moment in their lives. In the time these two have been together, their love and understanding of each other has grown and matured. Now they have decided to live their lives together as husband and wife. Who gives this woman to be wedded to this man?"

"I do," Mrs. Williams replied.

Mrs. Williams then turned to Ashley and gave her a hug before Ashley took her place next to Shepard. The couple then followed the minister up onto the platform. Once they were in position, the minister asked for Shepard and Ashley to join hands.

"Mark," the minister continued calling Shepard by his first name, "do you take this woman to be your true and wedded wife; to solemnly promise before God and these witnesses to love, cherish, honor and protect her: to forsake all others for her sake; to love her and her alone until death do you part?"

"I do," Shepard replied.

"Ashley, do you take this man to be your true and wedded husband; to solemnly promise before God and these witnesses to love, cherish, honor and protect him, to forsake all others for his sake; to love him and him alone until death do you part?"

"I do," Ashley replied.

"Mark, please repeat these vows after me."

Shepard proceeded to repeat the vows the minister gave him, "I, Mark Shepard, take you, Ashley Williams, to be my lawfully wedded wife, my constant friend, my faithful partner and my love from this day forward. In the presence of God, our family and friends, I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow. I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals, to honor and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you, and to cherish you for as long as we both shall live."

The minister nodded and asked for Ashley to repeat after him. Ashley's vows consisted of the same words as Shepard as she promised to take him as her lawfully wedded husband. Once she was finished, the minister asked for the rings. Garrus and Liara both handed the minister a ring. The minister gave a ring each to Ashley and Shepard. He then asked them to place a ring on the other's left ring finger while saying the words 'with this ring, I thee wed.' After the rings had been exchanged, the minister gave the final proclamation.

"By the power vested in me by the Systems Alliance and the church of our lord God, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Shepard then turned to Ashley and lifted her veil. The smile he could barely make out when it was covered was now clear. He smiled back as their lips came together for their first kiss as husband and wife. The kiss lasted for about five seconds. When their lips parted, they turned to face the crowd while the minister raised his arms before he addressed the crowd.

"Friends, family, honored guests, it is my honor to present to you for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Mark Shepard."

Everyone in the crowd rose to their feet. The crew and Ashley's family were cheering and applauding the loudest. The councilors were doing a simple politicians applause but the smiles on their faces (at least the faces that could be seen) indicated they were genuinely happy for the couple. A few seconds after the applause started, the "Wedding March" began to play over the ship's intercom. Shepard offered Ashley his arm. She happily accepted and they walked down the aisle back towards the curtained off armory. The rest of the wedding party and the minister followed right behind them.

While the wedding party was behind the curtain filling out the marriage license with the minister, the guests gathered to form lines on both sides of the door to the shuttle. Cortez was standing right by the door wearing his Alliance dress uniform minus the hat. Instead he was wearing a hat typical of a 20th century English chauffeur. A limousine the shuttle was not but Cortez thought he'd do his best to look the part. The guests began pulling out vials filled with liquid used for blowing bubbles. It was explained to the non-human guests that in old days, it was customary to throw rice as the couple entered their getaway vehicle. Then it was discovered that rice was fatal to local wildlife so blowing bubbles became the new custom. Finally the wedding party joined the guests in the lines and informed them that Shepard and Ashley would be out any moment.

Suddenly, the armory curtain opened and Shepard and Ashley came running towards the shuttle. The guests began cheering and applauding again. They also began blowing bubbles and soon Shepard and Ashley were speed walking down an aisle of people with bubbles floating above their heads. When they reached shuttle, Cortez held out his hand to help Ashley onto the shuttle. Shepard followed right behind her. As Cortez stepped onto the shuttle to head for the pilot's chair, Shepard and Ashley turned around to wave to the guests while the shuttle door closed. Despite the door being closed, the guests continued to wave as the shuttle began to take off. The cargo doors opened and the shuttle flew towards them and flew away from the Normandy.

As the shuttle began its lap around Earth, Shepard and Ashley took their seats. Cortez had engaged the holographic windows so that they could look out and see the sights of Earth fly by. Shepard alternated his attention between the views outside the shuttle and Ashley's smile. Ever since he first met her on Eden Prime, he saw something special in her. Now here they were as husband and wife. The loss of Zaeed and Grunt was still on his mind but as he leaned in to give Ashley another kiss, he knew that as long as he had her in his life, the future was looking very promising.

* * *

Back in their office in an underground bunker, the lone figure nervously tapped their finger on their desk while staring at their comm. terminal. The turian was supposed to have called in to give his final report days ago. The figure knew that they had warned the turian multiple times that it was vital that the operation be a success. Of course they also warned the batarian that phase one had to succeed but then he bungled that one. Another failure and the figure's plan would have no chance of succeeding.

Further adding to the figure's frustration was an Alliance News Network story that was airing on a television screen on the wall to their left. The news anchor had just turned the report over to ANN reporter Diana Allers who announced that Captain Shepard and Lieutenant-Commander Ashley Williams had tied the knot in a private ceremony aboard the SSV Normandy. The report then cut to some pictures that the couple had allowed to be shown. As the pictures of Shepard and Ashley cycled on the screen, the figure's impatience quickly turned into anger.

The figure was about to get up from their desk and give up waiting when a beep suddenly emitted from the terminal. A message was coming through. The figure opened it and was initially concerned when it was discovered that the message was not video or audio. The concern vanished as they began to read the message. As they read, a smile began to appear on their face.

* * *

Boss,

If you are reading this message, then, unfortunately for me, I didn't survive the mission. I was right, Commander Santiago's plan was suicide.

I'm sorry if this message took so long to get to you but I had to ensure that this message couldn't be intercepted or traced to your location. So I sent it on a low priority comm. channel. Even if someone were to try and locate the channel, it would take days for them to think of checking this one. By then it will be too late. Believe me though when I say that you're waiting for my report was worth it.

Phase two was a success. All objectives have been accomplished.

* * *

The figure didn't even bother reading the rest of the message. The last two sentences were the only thing that mattered to them. With phase two being a success, the plan was still in motion. The figure proceeded to open up a comm. channel. Once it was opened, an asari's face appeared on the monitor.

"Boss," she said, "what can I do for you?"

"I just got a report from our turian friend," the figure replied.

The asari sighed, "do you need me to eliminate him like he and our human friend took out the batarian?"

"That won't be necessary. He's already dead but he did his job. Phase two was a success."

"That's wonderful news Boss. Should I inform our salarian friend to prepare to commence phase three?"

"Unfortunately there's too much heat right now. We're going to have to wait a while for things to settle down. Then when everyone least expects it, we can continue with the plan. Tell our salarian friend to lay low and await further instructions."

"Understood Boss, out."

When the comm. terminal went blank, the figure turned their attention to a picture frame on their desk. The sight of the picture caused a tear to form in one of the figure's eyes. The picture was of a woman. She was smiling but it wasn't enough to make the figure smile. Instead they picked up the photo and ran their fingers across the woman's face. The tear fell from their face and landed on the picture.

"It won't be long now sis," the figure said to the picture, "I promise that Shepard is going to pay for what he did to you."

**END OF PART 2**


	20. 3-1

**PART 3 - One Year Later**

Councilor Steven Hackett sat at his desk with one hand covering his face. He was experiencing one of the toughest parts of being a Citadel Councilor. There had just been a meeting with his fellow councilors and the topic was less than uplifting. A major crisis was brewing on Earth. The council had decided that as humanity's representative, it fell onto Hackett to decide the best way to handle it. That was the part Hackett wasn't looking forward to.

Even when he was the ranking Admiral in the Alliance Navy, Hackett usually had someone higher up the chain of command to give the final say. Being a councilor meant he was now all he had. Whenever that thought crossed his mind, he thought back to when he was first offered the position. Back then it took the word of a good friend to make him see that his leadership during the Reaper War made him suitable for the job. But this time Hackett felt like he was about to betray the friend who helped him get the job.

A beeping from Hackett's terminal told him the call he had been waiting for was coming through. He hesitated before pushing the button to answer it. This was the point of no return. When he took the call, he had to make a decision that would have an impact on the current crisis. Once he made the decision there would be no going back. Finally he pushed the button and a male voice greeted him.

"Councilor," it said, "how'd the meeting with the other councilors go?"

"Not good Commander," Hackett replied, "this crisis has everyone on edge and the Council feels that something needs to be done and soon. Have there been any new developments down there?"

"Sorry sir. We've been trying to get a line of communication so we can learn what's happening inside but nobody's answering. I wish the news was better but nothing has changed since my last call."

Hackett sighed, "I was afraid of that. Then I guess I'm left with no other option, I'm going to have to make the call."

The commander made what sounded like a painful hiss, "you sure there isn't another way Councilor? After all you know what day it is."

"Believe me Commander I don't want to do this. Unfortunately the Council and I are in agreement that we need Spectre involvement on this. They are the only ones who are already on Earth. I'll make the call and inform you when I have an ETA so you can meet them."

"Man, Loco is not going to like this."

* * *

The rising sun began to peak through the cabin window and hit the face of Lieutenant-Commander Ashley Shepard. The light from the rays slowly stirred her awake. As she slowly opened her eyes, Ashley reached across the bed but was surprised when she felt nothing but mattress. As far as she knew, she didn't go to bed the previous night alone.

Ashley's confusion was interrupted when she caught wind of a pleasing scent. She instantly recognized the smell. It was something she had smelled many mornings before when she was a kid. Eggs were being cooked outside the bedroom. She got up from the bed and pulled out a robe from the closet. Once she was dressed, she followed the smell out of the bedroom and towards a nearby kitchen. The sight that greeted her made her smile.

Standing over a stove was her husband Captain Shepard who was in the process of scrambling some eggs. Once he was done, he gently poured the eggs onto a plate that was already loaded with sausages. He then grabbed the plate and turned to set it on the dining table behind him. The table already had a plate of pancakes on the opposite side and a glass of orange juice on each end. After he set the eggs on the table, he looked up and saw Ashley leaning against the wall smiling at him. He smiled back.

"Happy Anniversary Ash," he said.

"This looks amazing," said Ashley, "you really outdid yourself."

Shepard then pulled out the chair at the end with the scrambled eggs and gestured for Ashley to have a seat. As Ashley headed for her seat, she took some time before sitting down to give Shepard a kiss. Shepard then headed for the chair at the end of the table with the pancakes. On his way he opened the curtains on the nearby windows and was greeted by the sight of snow covered Alaska.

It had been a year since Shepard and Ashley got married. To celebrate, they decided to spend a week in Alaska. After spending their honeymoon in Jamaica, they decided to go the opposite of tropical for their anniversary. They had already been at the cabin they rented for three days and had been enjoying every minute of it. Now the actual day of their anniversary had arrived and Shepard was doing what he could to ensure it started well. As Shepard sat down, he watched as Ashley took her first bite of the eggs and was pleased to see her react favorably to the taste.

"These are delicious," she said after taking another bite.

"Thanks," Shepard replied, "I've been getting some lessons on the side from my former mess sergeant Rupert Gardner."

"Was he the one that served with you during your mission against the Collectors?"

"Yeah, after the mission he left Cerberus and I helped get him a job with the Alliance. He's serving as a cook in the fifth fleet. Once in a while he gives me cooking lessons via vid-comm."

"Well they are definitely paying off. So what other plans do we have for today?"

Shepard was about to answer when a beeping sound came from a terminal on a desk in the cabin's living area. The sound made the smiles on both Shepard and Ashley's face fall. To ensure that nothing would disturb their anniversary, they kept the list of people who knew where they were staying down to only one person: Councilor Hackett. The one condition was that Hackett would only call if it was an emergency. If the terminal was beeping, it was highly likely that Hackett was calling and not to wish Shepard and Ashley a happy anniversary.

To further prove the point, the silence of the Alaskan wilderness was interrupted by the sound of an Alliance shuttle landing outside the cabin. Whatever Hackett was calling about, Shepard had a feeling it was going to result in him and Ashley having to go somewhere immediately after the call was finished. He glanced at Ashley who was starting to get up from her chair. He got up as well and the two of them headed for the terminal. A few button pushes later they were greeted by the face of Councilor Hackett. They came to attention and saluted.

"At ease," Hackett said after saluting back, "Captain, Commander believe me when I say that I wish I didn't have to make this call today but sadly circumstances are forcing my hand."

"No need to apologize sir," Shepard replied, "what can we do for you?"

"We have a crisis brewing in London. Several high level diplomats from all council races were visiting to witness the commemoration of the recently completed Conduit Memorial Park. After the ceremony they gathered in the State Ballroom of Buckingham Palace for a reception. An hour ago we received word that a small group of terrorists had infiltrated the palace and taken the dignitaries hostage."

"Have the terrorists issued any demands yet?"

"Not yet. We've tried to establish a line of communication with them but so far they have refused all requests to talk to us. We have no idea who these terrorists are or what they want. I have to say that there are just too many unknowns. Given that, I'm afraid we don't have a lot of options. The Council has decided, and I agree with them, that we need to get some Spectres involved in this matter. I know you two are celebrating your anniversary today but you both are the closest Spectres as you are already on Earth. The Council has decided that you two are our best and only choices."

Shepard sighed after Hackett finished speaking. Ashley gave a quick salute to Hackett and left to head for the bedroom. Shepard knew what she was going to do. While he and Hackett finished their discussion, Ashley would be in the bedroom packing suitcases. They both wished that they could decline the mission and continue their vacation in Alaska. But they also knew that they wouldn't be able to enjoy themselves thinking about the hostages and what might happen to them if they didn't help. There was no other choice, their anniversary plans were going to have to come to a premature end.

"Call the Council and tell them that Williams and I are on our way," Shepard finally said.

"Thank you Captain. I assume that you noticed the shuttle outside that I sent for you."

"Yes sir."

"Once you and the commander are packed, that shuttle will take you both to London. I'll send word to the commander in charge of the task force to head to the spaceport to greet you. And Captain, I know this won't make up for ruining your vacation plans, but I do want to wish the both of you a Happy Anniversary."

Shepard came to attention and saluted, "thank you sir."

Hackett saluted back, "Hackett out."

After Hackett's image vanished from the terminal, Shepard headed into the bedroom. He saw that Ashley had already packed one suitcase and was working on the second one. Based on the grunts she was making, Shepard could tell Ashley was not in a happy mood. It was a complete switch from the one she was in when she first woke up.

"It's bad enough that we nearly missed our wedding because we got called onto an assignment," she said, "but now we have to give up our anniversary plans?"

Shepard just shrugged his soldiers, "blame the terrorists. They're the ones who have no appreciation for what we had planned."

"They never do."

Shepard walked up behind Ashley and wrapped his arms around her waist. He kissed her on the back of her head. Ashley couldn't help but smile and turned to face Shepard. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the lips.

"Are you trying to cheer me up hero-man?" she asked.

"It seems to be working," Shepard replied, "I promise that we'll celebrate our anniversary properly when the mission is done."

"I guess that will have to do."

"I'll finish packing the other suitcase. You can head out to the shuttle. Let the pilot know that I will be out in a minute."

"Aye-aye skipper."

Ashley picked up the already packed suitcase and headed out of the cabin. After watching Ashley leave, Shepard went to work on the suitcase. As he packed he thought about how Ashley was probably right. The Reaper War had been over for almost two years and the two of them had hoped things would settle down so that they could enjoy the rest of their lives together. Unfortunately between Alliance and Spectre business it was proving to be almost impossible for them to have any time to themselves.

With the suitcase packed and ready, Shepard took one last look at the cabin. All he could think was this was not how he wanted his first year of marriage to end. He then turned and walked out the door to join Ashley on board the shuttle.


	21. 3-2

The shuttle ride to London only took an hour but it felt longer. When Shepard and Ashley boarded, they were happily surprised to see that Hackett had arranged for their armor and weapons to be on board the shuttle waiting for them. For the first part of the ride, they gave every piece of equipment a thorough going over. With all the unknowns Hackett told them they were to expect, the last thing they wanted was to worry about their equipment failing. When the weapons check was over, they remained seated in silence for the rest of the trip. They weren't in a talkative mood as they thought about what was waiting for them in London.

The night sky greeted Shepard and Ashley as they stepped off the shuttle. It was hard to believe that only an hour ago they were seeing a sunrise and having breakfast. But that was what happened when a person jumps ahead nine time zones. They ended up not having to look far for their contact. Shortly after stepping off the shuttle, they heard a voice call out to them.

"Hey Loco! Ashley! Happy Anniversary!"

When Shepard and Ashley saw who the voice belonged to, they both felt that things were starting to look up. Greeting them when they arrived was none other than their old squadmate and N7 marine, Lieutenant-Commander James Vega. Vega joined Shepard's squad after the Reaper's invaded Earth. He wasn't totally in favor of leaving Earth to get help for the fight but eventually accepted that Shepard was right in insisting that they needed allies to even have a chance to beat the Reapers. He remained under Shepard's command for the duration and even received his N7 commendation while serving with him. It was also during that time that he started calling Shepard "Loco" because of how crazy he figured Shepard had to be to do most of the stuff he had done in his career.

Shepard had lost track of Vega after the war ended. The last time he saw him was at his and Ashley's wedding. By the point he had completed his training and had become a full N7 marine. His training had allowed him to overcome his fear of being a leader that he developed after losing all but one member of his last command on a mission against the Collectors. He eventually took command of his own squad of marines. The only thing that happened to Vega since Shepard saw him at the wedding was that he had been promoted from Lieutenant to the rank of Lieutenant-Commander.

"Vega!" Shepard exclaimed when he saw him. "You're the task force commander?"

"Yep," Vega replied while shaking Shepard and Ashley's hands, "my squad and I were brought here to provide security for the commemoration of the park. After the ceremony was over, palace security took over for the reception and we were supposed to leave Earth for our next assignment. Our shuttle was just about to take off when we were informed of the takeover. We were ordered to stay and join the task force. Since I'm the highest ranking officer I was put in charge."

Shepard and Ashley grabbed their gear and followed Vega to the shuttle that would take them to Buckingham Palace. Along the way, Vega gave them an update on the situation. When his squad had first arrived at the palace, they attempted to launch a counterattack to retake the palace. Unfortunately when they reached the ballroom they realized how drastic the situation was. The terrorists had locked down all the hostages into the ballroom and booby-trapped all the room's entrances with explosives. To further complicate things, they could hear a moan coming from the other side of the door. The terrorists had placed hostages directly behind the door to discourage tampering with the bombs.

Realizing that a counterattack wouldn't work, Vega and his squad retreated from the palace. When they got outside they started trying to make contact with the terrorists. They launched a comm. terminal into the ballroom through a window and repeatedly called it. Three times they tried to call but the terrorists didn't answer once. Vega then called Hackett with the update and it was during that call that Hackett told him to expect Shepard and Ashley's arrival. He concluded his update by saying that nothing had changed since Ashley and Shepard were called in.

"So in other words we still have no idea what's going on in the palace," said Ashley.

"Sad but true," Vega replied, "all I know now is that my orders are to turn command of the task force over to you Loco since you're now the highest ranking officer. Hopefully with you in charge, maybe we can come up with a plan that will be loco enough to work."

"We'll see Vega," said Shepard, "let's just get to the palace so that Ashley and I can see what's happening for ourselves."

* * *

Shepard never had a chance to see Buckingham Palace when he was in London for the final battle of the Reaper War. Even so it didn't take much for him to recognize it when he saw it outside the shuttle's windows. Despite the constantly evolving architecture of the surrounding buildings, Buckingham Palace remained mostly unchanged from the way it looked back during the 21st Century. The only major difference from the way it looked in pictures was the countless police and military vehicles surrounding it.

During the shuttle's final approach, Shepard was able to see one thing that Vega didn't mention back at the spaceport. On the rooftop directly above the ballroom, four terrorists were patrolling and two of them were mounted on anti-aircraft guns. The guards and guns on the roof explained why storming the palace from above didn't seem to be an option. Or did it? A thought entered Shepard's head as to how they might be able to infiltrate the palace but he decided to keep it to himself. It was better to wait until he saw the entire situation first hand. The plan he had was a risky one and he wanted to be sure that there was no other option before he would suggest it.

The shuttle touched down a few yards from the front of the palace near some temporary huts. Vega called the place the operations center. A bunch of salutes greeted Shepard and Ashley when they stepped off the shuttle. Their reputations were definitely preceding them. Eventually Vega escorted them to a hut that had a wall filled with security monitors. Unfortunately the monitors didn't show much. All cameras labeled as exterior shots only showed the ballroom's windows were curtained off while the ballroom's interior cameras showed nothing at all.

"I'm guessing that the terrorists disabled all cameras inside the palace," Shepard said.

"Yeah," Vega replied, "that was the first sign that something was wrong. Unfortunately by the time palace security was able to respond, the terrorists had already locked down the ballroom."

"How many hostages do they have in there?"

"There are a total of seventy-five hostages in there. Sixty of the hostages are the diplomats and their guests. The other fifteen are palace staff members that were in the ballroom when the terrorist's took it over.

Shepard was now rubbing his chin while he stared at the monitors, "Well we may not know who these terrorists are or what they want but I'm already starting to get an idea of how skilled they are."

"What do you mean skipper?" Ashley asked.

Shepard continued, "Somehow these guys were able to infiltrate a heavily secured party with weapons and explosives. Then they managed to disable the cameras, get everyone in the room under control and lock the room down before palace security had any time to react. There is no way an amateur squad could pull that off. We are more than likely dealing with pros."

"You mean like Eclipse or Blood Pack?" Vega asked.

"Yes and no. It's definitely a group that's as skilled as they are but there is no way it's one of them. Both those groups are still under Aria T'Loak's control and I know that she would never approve of them doing something like this."

The conversation was interrupted when a terminal in the hut started beeping. A message was coming through. Shepard looked to Vega and saw that he was surprised by the call. Instantly Shepard was able to figure out why the call was such a big deal. The call was coming from the terminal that Vega's squad launched into the palace to communicate with the terrorists. Now after countless attempts to contact them, the terrorists were now reaching out to the Alliance.

Shepard quickly issued orders for the men to get to their positions so they could monitor the call. He then pulled up seats for himself, Ashley and Vega so that they could be near the speaker. The last thing Shepard did was ask Vega to answer the call. Shepard wanted to simply listen to the call for a while to see what he could learn about the caller. Once the others gave a thumbs up signaling that they were ready, Shepard signaled for Vega to hit the accept call button on the terminal. Nearly everyone in the room took a breath with Vega as he pushed the button and began to speak.

"Hello? This is Lieutenant-Commander Vega of the Alliance Navy. To whom am I speaking?"

A male voice responded, "I'm sorry Commander Vega but I'm not interested in talking to you. I'm calling because I just got a report from my men on the roof that the legendary Spectre Captain Shepard has just arrived. He's the one I want to talk to."

Everyone in the hut turned to Shepard. Shepard didn't even notice because he was too busy processing what he had just heard. There was something familiar about that voice but he was having a difficult time placing it. He figured it probably didn't belong to an old friend. None of his friends were terrorists. It was more likely an old enemy. Sadly that still didn't narrow it down because most of his enemies were dead and he couldn't think of the few that were still alive to place the voice. Eventually he decided speculation wasn't going to get him anywhere and stepped in front of the terminal.

"This is Captain Shepard of Special Tactics and Reconnaissance," he said.

"Shepard! It has been too long since I've heard you're voice," the voice replied, "are you and your Mrs. doing well?"

Shepard let out a slight chuckle, "you seem to have me at a disadvantage. You know me pretty well but I don't even know you're name."

"Are you saying you don't remember me Shepard? I know it's been a while since we last saw each other but I remember you. It's your old buddy Finch."

The minute Shepard heard the name Finch, a chill ran up his spine. He quickly reached for the mute button to silence his end of the conversation. With the line silenced he just stood there frozen solid. Ashley could have sworn that Shepard had just seen a ghost from the look on his face. She reached up and put a hand on Shepard's shoulder.

"What's wrong skipper?" she asked. "Do you know this guy?"

Shepard nodded. The look of shock on his face was giving way to anger.

"Yeah I know him," he growled, "we met back when I was growing up on Earth. I had hoped that I would never see him again."

* * *

MAKE A CHOICE:

The next chapter is one that I was really excited to write as it deals with something that is rarely talked about in the Mass Effect Universe: Shepard's past. However before you proceed there is a choice you need to make. Whenever I play through the first game with an Earthborn background, I purposely skip the mission where Shepard and Finch interact. The reason being it is the only time in the entire series where there is mention of Shepard having been part of a gang as a kid. That was always the one detail that made it hard for me to pick the Earthborn background. So I decided to skip the mission and, in my head canon, established the continuity that Shepard was never in a gang. I want to keep that same canon in this story. But Finch was still a character interesting enough to deserve an appearance. So I came up with a new way for him and Shepard to meet but without Shepard actually joining Finch's gang. But I also wanted to make a version for those who do play the assignment and want it to be in this story. Now it's time to make a choice.

1.) To see how the story plays out if Shepard had never been a member of Finch's gang and thus never completed the "Old Friends" assignment in ME1, simply click on the next chapter button on the bottom right corner of the screen. (My personal canon choice)

2.) To see how the story plays out if Shepard was a member of Finch's gang and did complete the "Old Friends" assignment in ME1, click the chapter selection button and skip ahead to chapter 23.

The choice is yours.


	22. 3-3 Shepard's Past (Version 1)

**Eighteen Years Ago**

Sixteen year old Shepard was an orphan living on the streets of Earth. With no family or friends and no place to call home, he roamed from place to place picking up odd jobs and studying to earn his high school diploma via the extranet. Despite the harsh circumstances, he knew he would not be living life the way he was for much longer. In two years he would be old enough to enlist into the military and then he could get off the streets for good. Until then, he had to do his best to avoid the various street gangs that constantly tried to recruit him.

While travelling through one of Earth's major cities, Shepard unintentionally wandered into an area that was controlled by a gang known as the Tenth Street Reds. The gang took an interest in Shepard as a potential recruit. They brought him to see Finch, who at the time was a twenty-year old lieutenant of the Reds. Finch tried to convince Shepard to give the gang a chance saying that that the Reds served as an unofficial police force for the city. By joining the Reds, Shepard would be able to help keep the people safe. Finch's pitch appealed to Shepard in a few ways but there was a part of him that couldn't help but feel there was something shady about the group's intentions. He respectfully declined but Finch told him the offer would remain open if he ever changed his mind.

A few months after his encounter with the Reds, on a cold, snowy winter day, Shepard was walking into a neighborhood grocery store. He wasn't planning on buying anything. Rather he just needed to temporarily escape the cold. The little cold weather gear he could afford did its job for the most part but long exposure to the cold seemed to nullify its effects. The grocery store's automatic doors barely opened when a skycar crashed a few yards behind Shepard. He turned around to see the skycar's doors open and a person with blue colored skin and tentacle like hair stumbling out of it. Over the course of his studies, Shepard had memorized the names of all the known alien life that humans had made contact with. So even though he hadn't been off Earth before, he could tell the one he was looking at was an asari. Seeing an asari was a strange sight for Shepard because aliens were not a common sight on Earth. Who was this asari and what was she doing on Earth?

Shepard didn't have enough time to think the question through as three more skycars came down and parked near the asari's crashed skycar. With military speed and tactic, two pairs of men hopped out of two of the skycars. One pair was armed with assault rifles and started firing shots into the air in an attempt to scare off any passerby's that might come to offer assistance. The other pair ran towards the asari and began putting restraints on her arms. The asari put up a fight but eventually the attackers had cuffed her arms behind her back. The attackers than hauled her towards the third skycar. The pair with the assault rifles covered them as they moved.

As the whole sequence of events took place, Shepard pondered what he should do. He was unarmed and he couldn't see anyway to attack the guards before they could shoot him. Still he had to do something. Despite growing up alone, he never hesitated to help someone who was in need, no matter the danger. He couldn't explain it. Maybe it was a trait he inherited from his parents. There was no way of knowing for sure though as he had grown up never knowing who his parents were or what happened to them. Finally deciding that he couldn't stand by and do nothing, Shepard charged towards the attackers.

During his approach, Shepard quickly gathered up clumps of snow and started packing them into snowballs. A primitive weapon for sure but it was the only one Shepard had access to. The gunmen were just starting to notice Shepard coming when he began throwing the snowballs. Each snowball he threw hit one of the gunmen squarely on the forehead. Fortunately for Shepard none of the gunmen were wearing helmets or any kind of face cover. The snow got into the gunmen's eyes and temporarily blinded them. In their confused state, Shepard was easily able to grab the rifles out of their hands and eject the clips. He then gave each one of them a strong knockout punch to ensure they stayed down. Growing up on the streets forced Shepard to learn various fighting styles to defend himself from the gangs. It seemed that they were paying off.

Convinced the gunmen had been taken care of, Shepard gathered some more snowballs and turned to attack the men dragging the asari to the third skycar. He barely took a few steps when he saw that one of the men had a pistol pointed at the asari's head. The other man had his pistol pointed at Shepard. It was a brave effort but Shepard now found the situation hopeless. Any move he made would result in either him or the asari getting killed. He dropped the snowballs and slowly raised his hands and put them behind his head. The guy with his gun pointed at Shepard began to pull the trigger when a voice called out from the skycar they were loading the asari into.

"HOLD YOUR FIRE!" the voice called. "Cuff him and bring him with us."

Initially confused, the attacker holstered his weapon and put handcuffs on Shepard. He then shoved Shepard towards the skycar and threw him inside right behind the asari. Shepard got up in attempt to fight his way out but the skycar doors had already closed. The voice Shepard heard earlier spoke to him from the front passenger seat.

"It is so good to see you again Shepard."

Shepard quickly looked towards the front of the skycar and saw the face the voice belonged to. The sight nearly caused him to groan.

"Finch" he sighed.

"Glad to see you remember who I am," said Finch, "looks like I might have another chance to recruit you into the Reds after all."

Shepard laughed, "yeah right. I always thought there was something shady about your group but I never would have guessed you guys were kidnappers. And you call yourselves an unofficial police force. Sorry but I don't think your group is for me."

Finch let out a fake gasp, "kidnappers, us? You just don't know the whole story Shepard. Do you have any idea what this thing is and how much of a threat it is?"

Shepard noticed that Finch was pointing to the asari sitting next to him. He turned to face her and could see that she was terrified by her current situation. It was hard for him to see how she could possibly be a threat to anyone. Then Shepard realized that he had heard Finch call her a "thing" and "it". He had a feeling that he knew where this was going and it was about something more than a simple kidnapping. Quickly he started forming his escape plan. In the meantime he needed to keep Finch talking.

"_SHE!_" Shepard said accenting the personalized pronoun "doesn't look like she could be a threat to anyone."

"Oh you are wrong about that Shepard," Finch replied, "this thing is the daughter of an alien politician that is here on a 'mission to improve relations with humanity.' What that really means is the aliens are trying to stick their noses into humanity's affairs. Well we're going to show them that we don't need them. To do that, we're going to execute this alien on live broadcast and tell all the aliens that if they don't want this to happen to them, they need to leave Earth and never try to interfere with us again."

Finch's speech had now started to make Shepard sick with disgust. He now realized that what the Reds really were was an anti-alien organization. All his life he had noticed some people talking about the other races like they were not real people and that they either had to be repelled from Earth or wiped out entirely. Shepard figured it had to do with the fact that when humans first made contact with aliens it led to a short but brutal war. Despite all the hostility, Shepard had grown to believe that even though they weren't the same species, humanity shared enough similar traits with the other races that they should be considered equal. Whatever traits they didn't share were what Shepard felt was done so that they could balance each other out. Shepard knew he had to stop the execution in order to preserve any chance of the fragile relationship between humans and the other races staying intact.

This brought him back to working on his escape plan. Fortunately he now had one figured out. Along with fighting styles, the years of living on the streets had given Shepard the opportunity to learn a few tricks. One such trick being how to hack handcuffs with a special device he wore under his gloves. It was going to take a few seconds for the hack to work but when it did his hands would be free. He still needed to keep Finch talking so there would be little chance of him noticing the hacking attempt. Fortunately Finch was unknowingly obliging.

"You know I just had a brilliant idea," he said, "you should be the one to pull the trigger. It could be your initiation into the Reds. Come on Shepard. Think about it, the chance to join a group who will help save humanity from alien influence. We'll be heroes. What do you say?"

As Finch finished speaking, Shepard had just gotten his handcuffs off. It was time to spring into action.

"I say," Shepard said, "no."

Before Finch could react, Shepard reached up to the front seats and grabbed Finch and the driver and smacked their heads together. The two were knocked unconscious. With no one at the controls, the skycar swerved erratically before plummeting into a dive. The car's high speed made it difficult for Shepard to get up from his seat and crawl up to the front. The car put up a fight but Shepard managed to pull the car out of the dive just before it could make contact with the ground. He kept the car hovering above the ground as he opened the skycar's doors and threw Finch and the driver out. He then put the car in gear and flew away.

Shepard didn't get far when a series of gunshots started striking the skycar's roof. The skycar that held the two Reds who had thrown Shepard and the asari into their car was now following them. To further complicate things, another Reds skycar had appeared and joined the chase. Shepard shifted the skycar into the fastest gear possible and started to pull away. The Red's followed suit in an attempt to close the gap. Despite being in high gear, the oncoming traffic was making it difficult for Shepard to keep up his speed. He constantly had to change where his eyes were focused between his rear-view mirror and the traffic in front of him.

Suddenly Shepard noticed they were about to go between two skyscrapers that were connected by a bridge. The traffic ahead of him was pulling up to fly over it. This gave Shepard an idea for how he could lose one or both of the skycars. He had the accelerator as far as it would go and kept his focus on the bridge. The Red's skycars were now getting within a skycar length of Shepard. The bridge was getting closer but he didn't make any move to fly over it. He heard the asari scream from the backseat as she braced for a collision. Just before Shepard reached the bridge, he put the skycar into a dive and went under it. One of the Red's skycars managed to avoid the bridge too but the other was not so fortunate. It crashed into the bridge at full speed and exploded on impact.

Shepard could hear the explosion behind him and checked his rear-view mirror to see he still had one Reds skycar following him. There was also someone sticking out of the window with a machine gun in their hands. He started taking some evasive maneuvers just as he heard the gunfire begin. The gunfire persisted until Shepard heard a second explosion and felt the skycar shake. A display on the skycar's dashboard began flashing and Shepard saw that it was telling him that one of the thrusters was damaged. This was confirmed when he saw that his speed was decreasing.

The drop in speed was all the Reds skycar needed to pull up next to Shepard and began trying to ram him into the nearby skyscrapers. With no way to speed up, Shepard started moving the skycar up and down to avoid a collision. As Shepard continued dodging, he noticed that even though the Reds weren't hitting him, they were forcing his skycar closer to the skyscrapers. The next time the Reds tried to ram him, Shepard was going to either have to take the impact or dodge it and end up scrapping along the skyscraper.

Another burst of gunfire hit the skycar. To Shepard's surprise however, the gunshots came from above and the Red's skycar was right next to him. At least it was until it swerved away and disappeared from sight. The sound of sirens allowed Shepard to figure out what was going on. They were being pursued by a two police skycars and it spooked the Reds into fleeing. One of the police skycars flew after the Reds while the other one continued to pursue Shepard. Unfortunately they were still firing at them as well. Shepard couldn't understand why until he noticed where they currently were.

During the chase Shepard had ended up piloting the skycar onto the grounds of the hotel where politicians stayed when they visited Earth. To ensure there would be no threats against the politicians from the air, no air traffic was allowed above the grounds unless it was at a minimum height requirement. Shepard knew that they were nowhere near the minimum height and now the police thought his skycar was a threat. The fact the skycar had Reds insignias probably didn't help. Worse still, a quick check of his dashboard showed that the skycar would not be able to take any more damage from the police before it lost power completely. He had to convince them they weren't a threat and fast.

Turning to face behind him, he saw that the asari was still shaking in fear from the gunfire. Unfortunately Shepard knew that he needed her to tell the police who she was to get them to stop shooting. He quickly grabbed the radio speaker and held it out to her. When she didn't even glance at him, Shepard tried talking to her to calm her down.

"Hey," he said, "it's ok. I know you're scared but we can get them to stop firing on us if you tell them who you are over the radio. I would tell them myself but they won't believe me unless they hear your voice."

Before Shepard could continue, a new alarm started beeping on the dashboard. He turned to see that another police skycar had flown in front of them and they were about to crash into it. Shepard barely managed to grab the controls and pull the skycar up and over the police. Unfortunately the police skycar that was behind him wasn't so lucky. The two police skycars collided head-on and began spinning out of control. Shepard could only watch in horror as the skycars seemed to fall to the ground in slow motion and crashed. He was about to curse to himself when he noticed figures stumbling out from the wrecks. He breathed a sigh of relief as it appeared that there were no casualties. The relief was short lived when suddenly four more police skycars appeared and began pursuing Shepard. With four to one odds, Shepard knew it would only be a short time before he was shot down.

"Listen," he said to the asari without turning back to face her, "what's your name?"

After doing nothing but shaking in the back, the asari finally looked towards Shepard.

"Tatyana," she said.

Even though he knew she couldn't see him doing it, Shepard smiled.

"It's nice to meet you Tatyana. My name's Shepard and I promise you that we will get out of this alive. All you have to do is talk into the radio and tell the police you're in here. That will get them to stop shooting."

Tatyana was still hesitant about speaking but changed her mind when another shot hit the skycar. She leaned forward and spoke into the speaker Shepard held to her.

"Hello? This is Tatyana. My mother is Ambassador Shala of the Asari Republics. I'm in the skycar that you are shooting at. A group of armed men tried to abduct me but I've been rescued by the man that is in the skycar with me. Hold off your attack."

No sooner had Tatyana finished speaking that the police skycars stopped firing. No other sounds were heard for about a minute. Shepard figured it was because they were running voice recognition to ensure that it was indeed Tatyana's voice. Finally a voice came over the skycar's radio.

"Tatyana this is police skycar Adam-14, we have confirmed your identity. We'll escort you to the hotel entrance where your mother will be waiting for you. Advise the man who is with you that when you land he is to remain in his seat with his hands behind his head until an officer gives him an all clear."

Tatyana turned to Shepard who nodded that he understood.

"Understood," Tatyana replied, "Tatyana out."

With the help of the police escort, Shepard was able to pilot the skycar down to the hotel's entrance. Waiting there to greet them was the ambassador and several heavily armed policemen. When they had touched down, Shepard opened the skycar's doors and placed his hands on his head as the officer had instructed. He almost flinched when he saw the policemen raise their weapons at him. One of them called out for him to keep his hands where they were and sent two other officers to help Tatyana out of the skycar. One of the officers removed Tatyana's restraints and brought her back to the waiting arms of her mother. The other officer stayed and helped Shepard out. After giving him a quick pat down, the officer cleared him and sent him towards Tatyana and the ambassador. Shepard noticed that the ambassador seemed surprised when she saw him. He had a pretty good idea why.

"You're the man who saved my daughter?" she said. "You're just a child."

"Mother!" Tatyana exclaimed. "You can't just simply thank him?"

"It's okay Tatyana," said Shepard, "I can understand why your mother is surprised. Don't let my youth fool you ambassador. The truth is that I grew up on the streets. It's a dangerous life with gangs like the group that tried to take your daughter running around trying to recruit me. Fortunately my time on the streets has allowed me to learn a few tricks that have kept me alive. I used most of them to save Tatyana."

The ambassador was amazed by what Shepard told him, "That's impressive. With a little more training you might even be able to rival some of my people's best commandos. But what do your parents think of this?"

Shepard frowned, "I don't have any parents. I'm an orphan."

Tatyana gasped, "That's awful."

"I'm sorry son," the ambassador said somberly, "I can't imagine what it's been like for you growing up alone. Still the fact that you've survived everything that you have on your own is a testament to your character."

"Thank you, ambassador."

"No I should be thanking you. I do appreciate what you did for my daughter and I would like to repay you. Maybe Tatyana and I could help you find a home or you could even stay with us for a while."

Shepard looked to Tatyana who seemed happy with the idea. He had to admit that there was a part of him that appreciated the offer. He had never had a family before and liked the idea of having one. In this case he would have a mother and a sister. But there was another part of him that was telling him not to take it. Unfortunately it was the stronger of the two parts. All he could do was try and explain it as politely as he could.

"That's a very generous offer ambassador," he said, "but respectfully I'm going to have to decline. I'm doing okay on the streets. Besides I won't be here much longer. In less than two years I'll be able to join the military. They will provide me with room and board and I will be out there helping people, which is exactly what I want to do with my life. Don't get me wrong I would love to be part of a family. I just don't know if I want to join one now when I'm on the verge of getting off the streets on my own."

The reply had caused Tatyana's smile to disappear. The ambassador on the other hand had a small smile and nodded approvingly.

"I guess I see your point," she said, "you want to make it through life on your own efforts. I respect that. Still, thanks again for saving my daughter. I don't know if you believe in such things, but may Goddess be with you and keep you safe."

Shepard thanked the ambassador for her wishes and shook her hand. He then reached his hand out to shake Tatyana's. To his surprise, instead of shaking his hand, Tatyana leaned forward and gave Shepard a kiss on the cheek. The ambassador giggled while Shepard's face began to turn red as he struggled to think of how to respond.

"Forgive me," she said as her own face seemed to be blushing, "I've understood that it was an Earth custom for a girl to kiss their rescuer."

Shepard chuckled and nodded in agreement. After saying one more goodbye, Shepard left Tatyana and the ambassador and followed the waiting police officers to be debriefed. He explained to them everything he knew about the Reds and where he last left their leader Finch and the three other Reds he subdued. Unfortunately by the time the police arrived, Finch and his men were gone and there was no evidence left as to where they went. Even though Shepard wished that Finch and his men had been caught, it ultimately didn't matter to him. As long as he never saw Finch or the Reds again, he would be a happy man.


	23. 3-3 Shepard's Past (Version 2)

**Twenty Years Ago**

Fourteen year old Shepard was an orphan living on the streets of Earth. With no family or friends and no place to call home, he moved from place to place picking up any odd jobs he could and studying to earn his high school diploma via the extranet. Despite the harsh circumstances, he knew he would not be living life the way he was for much longer. In four years he would be old enough to enlist into the military and then he could get off the streets for good.

One day while he was travelling through one of Earth's major cities, Shepard unintentionally wandered into an area that was controlled by a gang known as the Tenth Street Reds. The gang took an interest in Shepard as a potential recruit. They brought him to see Finch, who at the time was an eighteen year old lieutenant of the Reds. Finch offered Shepard the chance to join what he called the unofficial police force for the city. By joining the Reds, Shepard would be able to help keep the people safe.

That last bit got Shepard's attention. Despite growing up alone, he never hesitated to help people in need. He couldn't explain it. Maybe it was a trait he inherited from his parents. There was no way of knowing for sure though as he had grown up never knowing who his parents were or what happened to them. Finch's offer would give him the chance to continue to help people on a regular basis. Not only that, but the Reds would give him a roof over his head and a steady supply of food. It would be a large improvement over his current situation. He accepted Finch's offer on the spot and was sworn in as Tenth Street Red.

Over the course of the next two years, Shepard and the Reds had developed their reputation of being the unofficial police force. They had stopped a wide variety of crimes ranging from stopping drug dealers trying to sell in schools to foiling burglaries. The local townsfolk had grown to respect the group for their efforts against crime and for all the lives they had saved. The authorities on the other hand considered them vigilantes and wanted to arrest them. Shepard didn't like the idea of being on the run from the authorities but the work he was doing with the Reds was just too good to pass up. Until he eventually became old enough to enlist into the military, Shepard was more than happy staying with the friends he had made in the Reds.

That all changed on one fateful day.

On Shepard's sixteenth birthday, Finch and the Reds decided to give him a very special mission. It was a mission they said would have him deal with the greatest threat the Reds had ever faced. Shepard couldn't imagine what this great threat could possibly be but he trusted Finch and the Reds enough that if they said it was a threat, then it had to be a threat. However Finch was slightly ambiguous about what Shepard was supposed to do. All Shepard was told was that he was to meet with a contact at the local shopping mall and then he would get the rest of the details. Shepard nodded that he understood but he couldn't help but feel a bit concerned. Finch was always up front with him about the details of his missions. Why was he being so secretive about this one?

When Shepard got to the mall, he was surprised to find that it was closed. It was still the middle of the day so one would expect a mall to be flooded with shoppers at that time. He pulled on the door and it opened with ease. Cautiously he proceeded inside the mall and looked for any sign of the contact he was supposed to meet. Even with the daylight outside, it was still dark enough inside that Shepard had a hard time seeing where he was going. Suddenly, he was startled when a bright light turned on and shined in his face. He shielded his eyes from the light and was just able to make out a silhouette of a man standing by the source of the light. The man was wearing a Reds uniform.

"You must be the one that Finch sent," the man said, "the name's Carter. You're Shepard right?"

"Yeah that's me," Shepard replied, "Finch sent me here because he said you had a mission for me."

"Indeed," Carter responded as he gestured for Shepard to follow him.

Carter led Shepard deeper into mall. Soon Shepard noticed another light source coming from an electronics store. As they got closer to the store, Shepard could see that there was a camera and some lights arranged in a way similar to how news crews set up for a speech. Carter remained silent as he opened the door to the store and gestured for Shepard to step inside.

As soon as Shepard was inside, a door at the back of the store opened and two more men in reds uniforms came inside dragging someone with hands cuffed behind their back and a sack covering their head. Soft crying could be heard coming from underneath the sack. The sound of the cry and the shape of the person being dragged told Shepard that it was a woman. Shepard was now starting to feel really uneasy. A voice in his head was telling him that something was wrong about what the men were doing. Still there was nothing Shepard could do until he knew more about what was going on.

The men placed the woman in front of the camera that was set up and forced her onto her knees. While one man kept the woman down, the other one pulled the sack off her head. Shepard's eyes widened when he saw the woman's face. It was blue and her hair seemed to resemble tentacles. During the course of his studies, Shepard had memorized all of the known alien life that humans had made contact with. So even though he had never been off Earth before, he could tell that this woman he was looking at was an asari.

"What's going on here?" he asked Carter

"Just what Finch told you," replied Carter, "we're dealing with the greatest threat we've ever faced. Do you have any idea what this thing is and how dangerous it is?"

Shepard noticed that Carter was pointing to the asari as he spoke. He looked back at the asari. Her face showed signs of terror and that she had been crying for a while. It was hard for him to see how she could possibly be a threat to anyone. Then Shepard realized that he had heard Carter call her a "thing" and "it". He was starting to get a feeling as to where this situation was going…and he didn't like it.

"She doesn't look like she could be a threat to anyone," said Shepard.

"Oh you are wrong about that Shepard," Carter replied, "this thing is the daughter of an alien politician that is here on a 'mission to improve relations with humanity.' What that really means is the aliens are trying to stick their noses into humanity's affairs. Well we're going to show them that we don't need them. We've set up this equipment so that we can broadcast a message to the aliens demanding that they leave Earth and never interfere with humanity ever again. Then we will execute this alien as a demonstration of what will happen to them if they don't."

Carter's speech had now started to make Shepard sick with disgust. After two years of being a part of the Reds, he now knew what they really were: an anti-alien organization. All his life Shepard had noticed some people talking about the other races like they were not real people and that they either had to be repelled from Earth or wiped out entirely. Shepard figured it had to do with the fact that when humans first made contact with aliens it led to a short but brutal war. Despite all the hostility, Shepard had grown to believe that even though they weren't the same species, humanity shared enough similar traits with the other races that they should be considered equal. Whatever traits they didn't share were what Shepard felt was done so that they could balance each other out. If the Reds carried out this execution, the fragile alliance between humanity and the other races would be shattered. Shepard had to stop this execution somehow.

Right now though, the odds were not in Shepard's favor. It was three men armed with pistols against one unarmed man with a hostage between them. During his time alone on the streets, Shepard had taught himself a variety of fighting styles as a means to protect himself from anything he might face. However, unless something happened to turn the situation to Shepard's favor, none of his fighting styles could help him.

Carter continued, "As a special treat for your birthday, Finch has decided that you are going to be the one who will pull the trigger. You should feel honored Shepard. Finch is giving you the chance to save humanity from alien influence. So will you do the honors?"

As Carter finished, he pulled out a Kessler pistol from his waist holster and held it out to Shepard. Shepard had to keep himself from smiling. The tide had just turned. He carefully took the pistol and saw that the safety was off. Carter and the other men smiled at Shepard while the asari closed her eyes and bowed her head like she was praying, anticipating that she was going to die. It was time for Shepard to spring into action.

"I say," Shepard said, "no."

Before Carter and the men could react, Shepard grabbed Carter and pulled him close enough to smack him on the head with the pistol. With Carter now dazed, Shepard turned him around and used him as a human shield. The other men were now starting to pull out their own sidearms but they were not fast enough. Four shots were fired and the men were down on the floor as Shepard had hit both sets of kneecaps. When the men hit the ground screaming in pain, they dropped their pistols. Shepard quickly whacked Carter on the head with the butt of his pistol and raced over to kick the other men's pistols away from them. Within five seconds, Carter was unconscious and the other men were down with wounded kneecaps.

With no more immediate threats to worry about, Shepard set the pistol down and walked over to the asari and started to remove her restraints. Suddenly a group of loud voices were heard outside the store and they were getting louder. Someone was coming and Shepard doubted it was mall security. He quickly helped the asari to her feet and then lifted her up so that he was carrying her bridal style.

"We need to get out of here before their backup gets here," he said, "just try to stay calm and I'll get us both out of here alive."

Despite still being terrified, the asari nodded to indicate she understood. Shepard then carried her out of the electronics store and began running in the direction that he had come when he first entered the mall. The voices were still getting louder behind him. The Reds were catching up to him. Eventually he reached the entrance and practically charged through the door. Once he was outside, he raced for the skycar that Finch gave him to get to the mall. The skycar doors opened as he approached. He placed the asari in the backseat and quickly hopped into the driver's seat. A few button pushes later the skycar was warmed up and took off heading away from the mall.

Shepard didn't get far when a series of gunshots started striking the underside of the skycar. He glanced behind him and saw that three Reds skycars were lifting off from another part of the mall's parking lot and were now pursuing him. Shepard shifted the skycar into the fastest gear possible and started to pull away. The Red's followed suit in an attempt to close the gap. Unfortunately once Shepard got into the main traffic routes, the oncoming skycar traffic made it hard for him to keep a constant speed.. He constantly had to change where his eyes were focused between his rear-view mirror and the traffic in front of him.

Suddenly Shepard noticed they were about to go between two skyscrapers that were connected by a bridge. The traffic ahead of him was pulling up to fly over it. This gave Shepard an idea for how he could lose one or both of the skycars. He had the accelerator as far as it would go and kept his focus on the bridge. The Red's skycars were now getting within a skycar length of Shepard. The bridge was getting closer but he didn't make any move to fly over it. He heard the asari scream from the backseat as she braced for a collision. Just before Shepard reached the bridge, he put the skycar into a dive and went under it. One of the Red's skycars managed to avoid the bridge too but the other was not so fortunate. It crashed into the bridge at full speed and exploded on impact.

Shepard could hear the explosion behind him and checked his rear-view mirror to see he still had one Reds skycar following him. There was also someone sticking out of the window with a machine gun in their hands. He started taking some evasive maneuvers just as he heard the gunfire begin. The gunfire persisted until Shepard heard a second explosion and felt the skycar shake. A display on the skycar's dashboard began flashing and Shepard saw that it was telling him that one of the thrusters was damaged. This was confirmed when he saw that his speed was decreasing.

The drop in speed was all the Reds skycar needed to pull up next to Shepard and began trying to ram him into the nearby skyscrapers. With no way to speed up, Shepard started moving the skycar up and down to avoid a collision. As Shepard continued dodging, he noticed that even though the Reds weren't hitting him, they were forcing his skycar closer to the skyscrapers. The next time the Reds tried to ram him, Shepard was going to either have to take the impact or dodge it and end up scrapping along the skyscraper.

Another burst of gunfire hit the skycar. To Shepard's surprise however, the gunshots came from above and the Red's skycar was right next to him. At least it was until it swerved away and disappeared from sight. The sound of sirens allowed Shepard to figure out what was going on. They were being pursued by a two police skycars and it spooked the Reds into fleeing. One of the police skycars flew after the Reds while the other one continued to pursue Shepard. Unfortunately they were still firing at them as well. Shepard couldn't understand why until he noticed where they currently were.

During the chase Shepard had ended up piloting the skycar onto the grounds of the hotel where politicians stayed when they visited Earth. To ensure there would be no threats against the politicians from the air, no air traffic was allowed above the grounds unless it was at a minimum height requirement. Shepard knew that they were nowhere near the minimum height and now the police thought his skycar was a threat. The fact the skycar had Reds insignias probably didn't help. Worse still, a quick check of his dashboard showed that the skycar would not be able to take any more damage from the police before it lost power completely. He had to convince them they weren't a threat and fast.

Turning to face behind him, he saw that the asari was still shaking in fear from the gunfire. Unfortunately Shepard knew that he needed her to tell the police who she was to get them to stop shooting. He quickly grabbed the radio speaker and held it out to her. When she didn't even glance at him, Shepard tried talking to her to calm her down.

"Hey," he said, "it's ok. I know you're scared but we can get them to stop firing on us if you tell them who you are over the radio. I would tell them myself but they won't believe me unless they hear your voice."

Before Shepard could continue, a new alarm started beeping on the dashboard. He turned to see that another police skycar had flown in front of them and they were about to crash into it. Shepard barely managed to grab the controls and pull the skycar up and over the police. Unfortunately the police skycar that was behind him wasn't so lucky. The two police skycars collided head-on and began spinning out of control. Shepard could only watch in horror as the skycars seemed to fall to the ground in slow motion and crashed. He was about to curse to himself when he noticed figures stumbling out from the wrecks. He breathed a sigh of relief as it appeared that there were no casualties. The relief was short lived when suddenly four more police skycars appeared and began pursuing Shepard. With four to one odds, Shepard knew it would only be a short time before he was shot down.

"Listen," he said to the asari without turning back to face her, "what's your name?"

After doing nothing but shaking in the back, the asari finally looked towards Shepard.

"Tatyana," she said.

Even though he knew she couldn't see him doing it, Shepard smiled.

"It's nice to meet you Tatyana. My name's Shepard and I promise you that we will get out of this alive. All you have to do is talk into the radio and tell the police you're in here. That will get them to stop shooting."

Tatyana was still hesitant about speaking but changed her mind when another shot hit the skycar. She leaned forward and spoke into the speaker Shepard held to her.

"Hello? This is Tatyana. My mother is Ambassador Shala of the Asari Republics. I'm in the skycar that you are shooting at. I was held captive by criminals but I've been rescued by the man that is in the skycar with me. Hold off your attack."

No sooner had Tatyana finished speaking that the police skycars stopped firing. No other sounds were heard for about a minute. Shepard figured it was because they were running voice recognition to ensure that it was indeed Tatyana's voice. Finally a voice came over the skycar's radio.

"Tatyana this is police skycar Adam-14, we have confirmed your identity. We'll escort you to the hotel entrance where your mother will be waiting for you. Advise the man who is with you that when you land he is to remain in his seat with his hands behind his head until an officer gives him an all clear."

Tatyana turned to Shepard who nodded that he understood.

"Understood," Tatyana replied, "Tatyana out."

With the help of the police escort, Shepard was able to pilot the skycar down to the hotel's entrance. Waiting there to greet them was the ambassador and several heavily armed policemen. When they had touched down, Shepard opened the skycar's doors and placed his hands on his head as the officer had instructed. He almost flinched when he saw the policemen raise their weapons at him. One of them called out for him to keep his hands where they were and sent two other officers to help Tatyana out of the skycar. One of the officers removed Tatyana's restraints and brought her back to the waiting arms of her mother. The other officer stayed and helped Shepard out. After giving him a quick pat down, the officer cleared him and sent him towards Tatyana and the ambassador. Shepard noticed that the ambassador seemed surprised when she saw him. He had a pretty good idea why.

"You're the man who saved my daughter?" she said. "You're just a child."

"Mother!" Tatyana exclaimed. "You can't just simply thank him?"

"It's okay Tatyana," said Shepard, "I can understand why your mother is surprised. Don't let my youth fool you ambassador. The truth is that I grew up on the streets. It can be a dangerous life but fortunately my time on the streets has allowed me to learn a few tricks that have kept me alive. I used most of them to save Tatyana."

The ambassador was amazed by what Shepard told him, "That's impressive. With a little more training you might even be able to rival some of my people's best commandos. But what do your parents think of this?"

Shepard frowned, "I don't have any parents. I'm an orphan."

Tatyana gasped, "That's awful."

"I'm sorry son," the ambassador said somberly, "I can't imagine what it's been like for you growing up alone. Still the fact that you've survived everything that you have on your own is a testament to your character."

"Thank you ambassador."

"No I should be thanking you. I do appreciate what you did for my daughter and I would like to repay you. Maybe Tatyana and I could help you find a home or you could even stay with us for a while."

Shepard looked to Tatyana who seemed happy with the idea. He had to admit that there was a part of him that appreciated the offer. He had never had a family before and liked the idea of having one. In this case he would have a mother and a sister. But there was another part of him that was telling him not to take it. Unfortunately it was the stronger of the two parts. All he could do was try and explain it as politely as he could.

"That's a very generous offer ambassador," he said, "but respectfully I'm going to have to decline. I'm doing okay on the streets. Besides I won't be here much longer. In less than two years I'll be able to join the military. They will provide me with room and board and I will be out there helping people, which is exactly what I want to do with my life. Don't get me wrong I would love to be part of a family. I just don't know if I want to join one now when I'm on the verge of getting off the streets on my own."

The reply had caused Tatyana's smile to disappear. The ambassador on the other hand had a small smile and nodded approvingly.

"I guess I see your point," she said, "you want to make it through life on your own efforts. I respect that. Still, thanks again for saving my daughter."

"But actually Ambassador, there is something that you might be able to do for me."

With the ambassador's support, Shepard was able to convince the authorities to not bring him in for his ties with the Reds as he had no intention of going back to them now that he knew what kind of a group they really were. He even agreed to do community service to make up for his vigilante activities he did with the Reds. Once everything was settled with the authorities, Shepard said goodbye to the ambassador and Tatyana.

"I don't know if you believe in such things," the ambassador said to Shepard, "but may Goddess be with you and keep you safe."

Shepard thanked the ambassador for her wishes and shook her hand. He then reached his hand out to shake Tatyana's. To his surprise, instead of shaking his hand, Tatyana leaned forward and gave Shepard a kiss on the cheek. The ambassador giggled while Shepard's face began to turn red as he struggled to think of how to respond.

"Forgive me," she said as her own face seemed to be blushing, "I've understood that it was an Earth custom for a girl to kiss their rescuer."

Shepard chuckled and nodded in agreement. After saying one more goodbye, Shepard left Tatyana and the ambassador and followed the waiting police officers to be debriefed. He explained to them everything he knew about the Reds and where the hideout where Finch and the rest of the Reds were located. Unfortunately by the time the police arrived, Finch and his men were gone and there was no evidence left as to where they went. Even though Shepard wished that Finch and his men had been caught, it ultimately didn't matter to him. As long as he never saw Finch or the Reds again, he would be a happy man.

Unfortunately that wasn't the case. Thirteen years later and shortly after Shepard had become a Spectre, he ran into Finch again on the Citadel. Finch asked Shepard if he would help get a member of the Reds released from custody after he was caught in turian space. Finch claimed that it was all big misunderstanding but Shepard knew with the Reds reputation as an anti-alien gang that there was more to it than Finch was letting on. However, Finch also mentioned that if Shepard refused to help, he and the Reds would let the whole galaxy know that the first human Spectre ran with a gang.

The threat fell on deaf ears as Shepard didn't care because his past with the gang was public record. So instead of negotiating the Reds member's release, Shepard warned the turian in charge of security that the Reds had approached him for help. The guard thanked Shepard for the info and said he would strength the security around the prisoner. A furious Finch stormed in and told Shepard that he was going to make good on his threat to tell the galaxy about Shepard's ties to the Reds. Before he could, Shepard gave a warning of his own. He knew that despite Finch's anti-alien agenda, Finch was only doing what he thought was needed to strengthen humanity. Shepard pointed out that launching a smear campaign against the first human Spectre would have the opposite effect. Realizing that Shepard was right, Finch furiously stormed out and he never made good on his threat against Shepard.

That was the last time Shepard had seen Finch.


	24. 3-4

**Present Day**

Shepard was no longer happy. Finch and the Reds had once again entered his life. This time however the Reds were holding the life of more than just a politician's daughter on the line. With his face still filled with anger, Shepard bent down and turned off the mute on the comm.

"Now that you mention it I do remember you Finch. If memory serves though, you are far from what I would call an old buddy of mine. You wanted me to help you kill the daughter of an asari politician as part of your group's anti-alien agenda."

"I have to say I really thought you were different when I first met you Shepard. You had so much potential to be a capable member of the Tenth Street Reds and join us in our crusade to protect humanity from alien influence. I've since realized I was wrong. Ever since you became the aliens' foot soldier, you've been doing more to help them rather than your own kind."

"I help everyone Finch, regardless of what species they are. Now let's stop wasting time reminiscing about the past. I want to talk about what it is going to take to get you to let the hostages go."

There was an initial silence on the comm. Suddenly Finch was heard bursting into laughter. Everyone in the hut except Shepard looked at each other confused.

Eventually Finch stopped laughing, "I might have been wrong about your ideals Shepard but I didn't think I would have overestimated your intelligence. I have no intention of letting the hostages go. The Reds and I are going to put these aliens down like the animals they are. When we are done, the aliens will finally be convinced to leave humanity alone. And before you decide to send a squad in to storm the ballroom, you should probably know that we have all entrances to this room wired to blow and we have placed the human hostages next to them. If you try to burst in, they will be killed by the explosions. Now Shepard I'm only here for the aliens. Believe me when I say that I don't want to kill innocent humans. But if you try to stop me then I will have no choice."

The threat Finch issued caused everyone in the hut to mumble nervously. Shepard was the only one who didn't seem to be nervous. Unknown to everyone else in the hut, Shepard knew that asking Finch to release the hostages was not going to work. He had already concluded Finch's intention as soon as he realized he was involved. The only reason he asked was to get Finch talking about his setup in the ballroom so he could use it to plan his attack. Unfortunately Finch had confirmed what Vega's squad had feared when they attempted their initial counterattack. Finch was indeed using hostages as human shields. Any attempt to enter the ballroom through any of the doorways would risk causing civilian casualties.

Shepard knew this meant the roof would be the only way in that wouldn't instantly endanger anyone. True the guards and the anti-aircraft guns up there would make a shuttle approach hazardous if not impossible. But since he first arrived at the palace, Shepard had an idea that he felt might give them a safe approach through the roof. First though, he had to completely exhaust all other options. Despite knowing that it wasn't going to work, he had to try one more time to appeal to Finch to let the hostages go.

"Finch," he said, "the other races are our allies. We wouldn't have survived the war with the Reapers without their support. They've also been extremely helpful with the rebuilding process after it ended. Humanity needs them."

"You're wrong Shepard!" Finch shouted. "We didn't need them! They needed us! Humanity was the one who came up with the plans for the crucible. It was a human admiral who commanded the joint offense on Earth. And it was you, a human, who fired the crucible and ultimately destroyed the Reapers. The aliens were the ones who wouldn't have survived without us. Now listen carefully Shepard. As soon as we have our equipment set up for the broadcast, the executions will begin. Remember what I said about what will happen if you interfere. Reds out."

The line went dead after Finch finished speaking. Nobody spoke for several seconds as they all stared at Shepard waiting for him to make a decision. Even Ashley was looking at him nervously. Shepard couldn't tell if it was about the mission or if it was because of what she had just learned about him. As long as they'd known each other, Shepard had never talked about his early years on Earth. All she knew was that he grew up an orphan and learned how to look out for himself on the streets. Now she found out he had run-ins with an anti-alien gang and rescued a politician's daughter. Shepard knew he was going to have to talk about it with her when the mission was over. For now that was going to have to wait. He had a plan and it was finally time to tell everyone what it was.

With his mind made up, Shepard addressed the troops, "we have to get in there."

Everyone immediately protested. The majority of the protests were about how they couldn't get in without risking hostages. One soldier ever threw out the option they should just let Finch carry out his plan saying that, although it seemed harsh, it would at least guarantee some of the hostages would live. It took a few seconds before Shepard got everyone to quiet down.

He continued, "If you will all listen I have a plan that might allow us to be able to save all the hostages. It's true that all the obvious entrances into the ballroom are guarded with human shields but there is one entrance that Finch can't guard with that strategy: the ventilation duct on the ceiling. It's possible he could rig the vents with explosives but he can't put a human shield up there as well. All we have to do is get a small squad to enter the vents from the roof and proceed to the duct that is on the ballrooms ceiling. From there the team can enter the ballroom without killing hostages and have the element of surprise."

"Respectfully Captain," a lieutenant in Vega's squad said, "how do you propose we get on the roof? The terrorists have a man watching every direction up there. They would see our shuttles coming and order the anti-air guns to shoot them down before they can land."

"They're not watching every direction. From their position they can see north, south, east and west. But they will not expect an attack from straight above them. We get a shuttle to fly high up above the palace so they can't hear or see it coming."

"It's an interesting idea Loco," Vega said, "but even if we got above them, when the shuttle starts touching down the terrorists will hear it coming and still attack."

"I wasn't planning on having the shuttle land Vega. The best chance we have of landing on the roof undetected is if we perform a HALO jump."

Everyone in the hut gasped at Shepard's suggestion. Shepard thought some of them might have stopped breathing and would faint. The jump he was referring to was short for a High Altitude – Low Opening jump. It was a military insertion method that was developed back in the 20th Century as a means of inserting troops into an area with minimal risk of the plane or troops being detected by enemy ground forces. A plane would fly as high as seventy-five thousand feet above ground to avoid enemy radar. The troops would then jump out of the plane and free-fall at terminal velocity for a period of time. Once they reached a low enough altitude, one that would be below radar and reduce the amount of time their parachutes would be exposed to be seen by ground forces, the troops would then deploy their chutes and land completing a stealthy infiltration.

However there were many risks involved with a HALO jump. These included low levels of oxygen high up in the air, severely low temperatures and the risk the parachute might not deploy properly and having little time to deploy the reserve chute. Fortunately with the right equipment and enough training, a soldier could handle the risks. The real problem was ever since the invention of shuttles and the recent addition of stealth technology to the shuttles, HALO jumps had not been used for decades. It was probably that reason that caused some of the men in the hut to gasp at the idea.

Unfortunately it even caused the lieutenant who spoke earlier to protest, "Commander Vega I can see now why you call the Captain 'Loco'. That has got to be the most insane idea I've ever heard."

"STAND DOWN SOLDIER!" Vega commanded. "If I want your opinion I'll ask for it. I don't care how crazy the idea sounds. I've known Captain Shepard long enough to know that he has a habit of making insane ideas work. So if he says we're going to do a HALO jump, then we are going to do a HALO jump."

"Thanks Vega," Shepard said, "I know HALO jumps are risky but I have confidence that it can be done. I have actually done HALO jumps before and I can easily explain to everyone how they work. Now I'm willing to lead the infiltration team. I figure I won't need more than two squadmates to accompany me. Do I have any volunteers?"

Without even spending a second to think about it, Ashley and Vega stepped forward and saluted. Shepard smiled because he knew that it would be them who would volunteer. Going back to when Ashley first joined the Normandy crew after Eden Prime, Shepard would rarely do missions without her being one of his squadmates. As for Vega, he was always anxious to go where the action was. Shepard saluted back.

"Thank you Commanders," he said, "Grab your gear while I make the arrangements for our shuttle and HALO equipment. We move out in twenty. Everyone else head back to your posts, dismissed."

* * *

When the twenty minutes were over, Shepard, Ashley and Vega sat in the shuttle as it began to lift off. In addition to their basic weapons and armor, they were equipped with everything needed for a HALO jump. This included their parachutes and breathing equipment. Ashley and Vega were also carrying equipment the trio would need to fast rope from the ballroom's ceiling vent down to the ballroom floor. Once they were in the air, Shepard went over the last minute orders for the jump. He had given all the safety instructions prior to them boarding the shuttle but now he needed to explain how they were going to land undetected on the roof of the ballroom.

The plan was simple but they knew that any mistakes could prove fatal. The shuttle would fly away from the palace and rise up to the required height of seventy-five thousand feet and turn back to head to the palace. Being that high off the ground guaranteed the terrorists would never see the shuttle approach. They would jump out of the shuttle as soon as they were above the palace and free fall for as long as possible to minimize chances of their chutes being detected from the ground. Once their chutes were deployed, they would pull out their pistols which would be equipped with enhanced laser and scope sights. With quick aim, they would be able eliminate the terrorists on the roof before any of them could have a chance to sound an alarm. From there, they would land on the roof and begin their infiltration.

No sooner had Shepard finished going over the plan that a red light lit up inside the shuttle. It was time for them to get into position because they were almost above the drop zone. The three of them put on their oxygen masks in preparation for the drop in cabin pressure that would happen once the doors opened. With the exception of the red light, the remaining lights inside the shuttle shut off rendering the inside as pitch black as the night sky would be outside. It was the perfect condition to allow the trio to safely turn on their night vision goggles. The doors opened shortly afterwards and everyone almost jumped when the temperature dropped with the cabin pressure. Shepard gave one quick glance over to Ashley and Vega who both nodded. They were ready and just needed to hear the go order. Soon the shuttle pilot's voice came over Shepard's comm. and began the final countdown.

"We'll have reached the drop zone in five…four…three…two…one…GO!"

Despite not being able to see the exact colors, Shepard could tell the light had changed from red to green. After taking one final breath, the trio hopped out into the pitch black night.


	25. 3-5

Shepard, Ashley and Vega had spent a lot of time in space during their careers. This had allowed him to be used to the weightlessness they felt while freefalling. As they looked down towards the Earth below, it didn't seem like they were getting closer to the ground. Considering how high up in the air they were when they jumped, it would only be a matter of time before their perspective would allow them to see the ground approaching them. In the meantime, there was nothing they could do but fall.

As they continued to fall, Shepard began to think about the previous times he had done HALO jumps. During his career in the military, he had trained himself in a variety of military techniques past and present. He figured it always helped to have a variety of techniques to improve his odds of being able to handle any situation he might come across. Today he was proven right. HALO jumps were his favorite old military technique to learn because despite the dangers it posed, being in the air away from everyone and everything and with no noise to distract him gave him a peaceful and relaxing feeling that for the longest time was something that was hard for him to come by. He had thought about taking Ashley skydiving to show her what it felt like. Too bad it took a mission to get him to finally do it.

After a few minutes of falling, they were able to pick out the palace below them. It was also starting to get larger as the ground came closer. Shepard checked his altitude meter and saw that they were reaching the parachute deployment height. He held up his hands so that it was visible to Ashley and Vega and began a countdown.

Five…Four…Three…Two…One!

As soon as the countdown reached zero, the trio deployed their parachutes. Thanks to Shepard's crash course, Ashley and Vega were able to prepare for the sudden deceleration and keep their heads from snapping to far back. Once their deceleration stopped and they were floating down at a constant speed, the trio pulled out their pistols and began taking aim down towards the palace. Ashley and Vega would take out the two guards who were not using the anti-aircraft guns. The logic being that the foot soldiers could adjust their aim faster than the two on the guns could. Hence they had to be taken out first. The guards on the guns would be Shepard's responsibility.

The slow descent was making it hard for the trio to get a steady aim but once each person had someone in their sights, Shepard gave the order to fire. Through the night visions goggles the trio could see explosions of blood coming from three of the guards' heads below. One final shot from Shepard took out the second AA gun guard. Within a few seconds the rooftop was now completely devoid of movement. For the remainder of the descent, Shepard listened for any new sounds. Specifically he was listening for alarms, or worst case scenario gunfire. Silence was all the trio heard when they finally touched down on the roof of the palace. All signs seemed to indicate that no one inside was aware that they had landed. Shepard's plan had worked.

"Ok people," Shepard said as they took off their HALO gear, "from the lack of sounds I'd say we've had a successful landing. You two get to work on the vent cover while I give an update to the operations center. Once the vent cover's off, I'll take point going into the vents and you two will follow right behind me. Take it slow and steady."

"Those hostages might not have much longer Loco," Vega said.

"I know Vega but we'll make a lot of noise if we try to go through the vents too fast. The terrorists will hear us coming and they'll start shooting. We keep it slow, steady and quiet. Understood?"

"Yes sir."

"Aye-aye skipper," Ashley replied.

While Ashley and Vega proceeded to take off the vent cover, Shepard tapped his comm. to give his report to the operations center. Unfortunately the only thing he heard was static. He tried to put the call through again but still got static. It didn't make sense. Everyone had checked their comm. before they boarded the shuttle. The only other reason the comm. wouldn't be working was if the terrorists had a communications jammer. There was one thing he could try to see for sure.

Shepard tapped his comm. again and spoke in a quiet whisper, "Can you hear me Williams? Vega, do you read me?"

Ashley and Vega didn't even look up from their task. There was no doubt about it. Shepard's comm. was being jammed. But how could the Reds have smuggled a comm. jammer inside the palace. It was hard enough for Shepard to believe that they got themselves and their weapons inside but a communications jammer? Shepard could only hope that once they got a visual on the inside of the ballroom that they would get some answers.

"The vent cover is off Loco," Vega called, "we're ready to go when you are."

Vega's call had taken Shepard out of his train of thought. He nodded and proceeded inside the shaft. Vega and Ashley followed right behind him. The vent was not too big but it forced them to move in a crouched position. They took every effort to take quiet steps but occasionally a small rattle would be heard.

Suddenly another sound began to echo in the vent. It was slightly muffled but Shepard could tell what it was. It was the sound or crying hostages. The vent cover that was directly above the ballroom was just ahead. Shepard held up his hand to order Ashley and Vega to hold position. As he stepped closer to the cover, he began pulling out an optic cable. Very carefully, he slid the cable through the vent and angled it so it was directly overlooking the entire ballroom. He pulled up his omni-tool and soon the cable's video feed was displayed. For the first time since the crisis began, they had a visual on what was going inside the ballroom.

The video displayed stuff that Shepard had expected to see for the most part. Scattered around the room were all the hostages. They were seated and had their hands behind their backs. Odds were that the terrorists had restrained the hostages' hands behind them. Shepard also noticed the hostages that were positioned by the entrances and the bombs that were attached to the doors. There were at least six men walking around the ballroom with a variation of assault rifles and sub-machine guns. Unfortunately the rest of what Shepard saw was not what he expected to see.

"Vega," he whispered, "are we sure that the phone call we got from Finch came from the ballroom?"

"Of course," Vega replied, "the phone in the operations center only takes calls from one phone and I personally threw that phone into the ballroom. It hasn't come out of the room since."

"And you're sure that no one has come out of the ballroom?"

Vega was now starting to look concerned, "well they barricaded themselves in with the bombs so I don't see how anyone could get out without disabling them first."

"Then why is Finch not in the ballroom?"

Vega synced his omni-tool with Shepard's and began scanning the faces of the terrorists. There was no photo of Finch in any Alliance database so Shepard had to give Vega and Ashley Finch's physical description while they were on the shuttle. Sure enough when Vega had finished scanning the faces, he saw that Finch was not among the men in the ballroom.

"That's impossible!" Vega exclaimed barely able to keep his voice from rising. "The bombs are still set on the doors so we know he didn't disable them to leave the room."

Shepard didn't reply to Vega's comment because he was focusing on the other thing that he saw on the video that wasn't something he expected to see. The six men on patrol were dressed up as waiters and palace security. It explained how the terrorists were able to get into the ballroom and how they were able to smuggle their equipment inside without attracting attention. Palace guards would be able to carry weapons in plain sight and the waiters could use their food carts to hide their weapons and maybe the comm. jammer if it was small enough. But despite all the questions the video answered, another question was raised.

"How did terrorists get jobs as palace guards and waiters?" said Ashley who had been watching the cables feed on Vega's omni-tool. "Nobody can get a job in Buckingham palace without a thorough background check. Somebody would have seen that they were associated with an anti-alien gang and rejected their application."

"That's exactly what I was wondering," said Shepard, "unfortunately we don't have time to speculate on that or where Finch is. We still have to rescue those hostages and take out the hostiles that are in the ballroom."

"What's the plan?" Ashley asked.

Shepard turned off the video and pulled up the electrical grid for the palace, "according to the plans we have, the electrical cables that provide power to the ballroom run parallel to this shaft. While you two set up our fast rope system, I'll use my omni-blade to cut a hole in the shaft to access the power lines. We'll then slowly get the vent cover off and hook up the rope. Once we're ready I'll cut the power and we'll fast rope down to the ground and take out two guards each. If all goes well this should be quick and have no civilian casualties."

Ashley and Vega nodded acknowledging their orders. Shepard activated his omni-blade and began cutting a circular hole into the wall of the shaft. Despite the shaft being made of metal, Shepard's omni-blade didn't have any trouble cutting through. While this was going on, Ashley and Vega were attaching a hook to the top of the shaft directly over the vent cover. They then attached one end of the rope to the hook and set the other end aside to be pushed down later when the vent cover was off and Shepard had cut the power.

"(Gasp)!"

Shepard gasped as he finished cutting the hole only to have the part he cut nearly fall down and land on the power cables. Fortunately he managed to catch it before it landed and could make a sound that would have alerted the terrorists below to their presence. He gently took the panel and carefully placed it down behind him. He turned back to Ashley and Vega who gave him the thumbs up to indicate the fast rope system was hooked up and ready to go. Shepard nodded and started scanning the wires looking for the circuit panel the palace plans told him ran the ballrooms power. Eventually he found the panel and began putting in a tap that would allow him to remotely control the power. Once he finished, everything that was needed for the attack was in place and accounted for except for one thing.

Shepard pulled up the video from the optic cable again to check the terrorist's current positions. The terrorists were still patrolling the room but Shepard noticed something that would help them. Every so often, two of the terrorists had patrols that would bring them in close proximity to each other. If he waited for them to get in that position before he cut the power, whoever took those two down would have an easy time adjusting their aim. He turned the video towards Ashley and Vegan and pointed out the patrols and when he was planning to cut the power. Once they understood the plan, they each picked out the two terrorists they would be responsible for taking out. As soon as the plan was thought out, Ashley and Vega slowly and quietly loosened the screws on the vent cover. They picked it up and placed it behind them. Vega then picked up the rope and prepared to throw it down as soon as it was dark. Shepard watched the video and waited for the two terrorists to meet each other again. He used his omni-tool to activate the tap and waited for the opportunity to turn off the power.

The terrorists were now just a few feet apart.

Suddenly the terrorists stopped in their place and one of them moved his hand to his ear. Someone was talking to them over a comm. Shepard quickly scanned the faces of the other terrorists but saw that none of them were talking on their comm. He figured it must have been Finch calling from wherever he was using a special comm. signal that could bypass the jammer. A feeling in his gut was telling him that something was wrong. He had the optic camera zoom in on their faces. Sure enough they were looking concerned over what they were hearing. He figured that Finch must have realized that the terrorists on the roof had been taken out. If that was the case then he knew that Shepard and his team were in the palace. That meant bad news for the hostages and time was rapidly running out for Shepard and his team to commence their attack.

Ashley and Vega could see the video and were beginning to think the same thing Shepard was. This was confirmed when they saw the terrorists were beginning to pull out their weapons. They each pulled out their own pistols and waited anxiously to throw down the rope. They saw Shepard point to his headset indicating they should turn on their night vision. While the night vision was warming up, Shepard held up his hand with three fingers raised to give the final countdown before the attack.

3….2….1….NOW!

The ballroom below them blacked out when Shepard cut the power. The terrorists started panicking. Fortunately the blackout was so unexpected for them that the time they were using to process what happened was time they weren't using to kill hostages. Vega acted fast and threw the rope down into the ballroom. Shepard was the first one down the rope with Ashley and Vega following behind them. With their night vision fully warmed up, they were able to see in the dark ballroom clearly and were able to pick out their targets. Despite the fast speed of their descent, they were able to aim their shots perfectly and put two shots in each terrorist. A combined twelve shots later, all the terrorists had fallen down dead.

The sounds of the gunshots had caused the hostages to scream. Even though they weren't blindfolded, the ballroom was too dark to allow them to see anything so they had no idea who was shooting and who they were shooting at. Shepard knew he had to calm the hostages down quickly. As soon as he reached the ground he used his tap to restore the power to the ballroom. The lights turning back on helped the hostages calm down a little bit but they still were unsure of who Shepard was since he wasn't in the room before the lights went out.

"Attention everyone!" Shepard called. "I'm Captain Shepard of the Alliance Navy and Council Spectre! My team and I are here to rescue you. So please remain calm and we'll begin escorting you all safely out of the palace."

The fears on the hostages' faces quickly vanished and turned to ones of relief. Some were even looking to sky and mouthing a thank you prayer. One hostage however did not look so relieved and Shepard picked up on it right away. The hostage was a salarian and instead of being relieved at the sight of Shepard, he seemed to be nervous about something. Shepard ordered Vega to disable the explosives and Ashley to begin cutting the hostages free. While they were doing that, Shepard walked over to the nervous salarian and bent down to talk to him.

"Is everything okay sir?" he asked, "I just told you all that we're here to rescue you. I would think that would be cause to celebrate not to be nervous. What's your name?"

"Avot Yuless Captain," said the salarian, "personal bodyguard to Ambassador Rosila of the Salarian Union. I am thankful for the rescue sir but the terrorists have the Ambassador. If they find out you are here they'll kill him.

Shepard glanced around the room, "you mean they have him somewhere else in the palace?"

"Yes sir. After the leader made his phone call, he and three other terrorists took the ambassador and a few other hostages and they left the ballroom through a door that appeared in the wall over there."

The wall Yuless pointed to was decorated with pictures of the royalty that had lived in the palace before England joined the other European nations to form a single country called the European Union. The specific spot Yuless pointed to was where a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II was hung. Shepard pulled up the plans of the palace that helped him find the power control panel. As he thought, there was no mention of a hidden passage in the ballroom. He figured the passage was meant to be used as a secret escape route for high level leaders and that was why there was no mention of it in the plans. The question was how did Finch know about it and where did he take the rest of the hostages?

But before Shepard could answer that question, he needed to focus on getting the hostages they rescued out of the palace. There was no sign of the jammer in the ballroom so they couldn't disable it and call the task force to come in and extract the hostages. Thinking quickly, Shepard raced over to a nearby window and pulled the curtain. He remembered how the palace's exterior cameras still worked but because of the curtains no one could see inside. Once he had the curtain opened, he pointed his assault rifle at the window in the direction of the camera and started turning it's flashlight on and off.

"What are you doing Loco?" Vega asked.

"I'm sending a message to the Task Force using Morse code," Shepard replied.

Morse code was yet another one of many old techniques Shepard had taught himself during his career. The point of Morse code when it was first invented was sending letters using a series of sounds through a telegraph in a mix of short and long intervals. With no way to send sounds to the operations center, Shepard was turning his flashlight on and off in short and long intervals. Unfortunately Morse code had not been used for more than a century so it was highly unlikely that someone would recognize the message. Still Shepard had to try something.

The message Shepard was sending said that his team had successfully infiltrated the palace. They had taken out ten hostiles and secured the majority of the hostages. There were still an unknown number of hostages and hostiles elsewhere in the palace. He was going to send one member of his team to guide the hostages toward the exit and he wanted the task force to have a team rendezvous with them there. It took several minutes but Shepard eventually sent his message twice to ensure someone would see the whole thing.

"Ok people listen up!" Shepard called out addressing his team and the hostages. "We're going to start getting you out of here. A member of my team will escort you towards the exit where an Alliance squad will meet you and take you to safety. Williams, Vega can I have a word with you?"

As the rest of the hostages started to get up onto their feet, Ashley and Vega met with Shepard a few feet from the crowd.

"Williams," said Shepard, "I'm putting you in charge of getting these people out of here safely. Vega you'll stay with me and we'll go after Finch."

"But Shepard…," Ashley began.

Shepard held up his hand to cut her off, "Let me finish. You'll guide the hostages until you rendezvous with the squad. Make sure you check each door for anymore traps. Once you meet the squad, they'll take the hostages so you can rejoin us."

Ashley was silent for a second but then smiled and saluted, "Aye-aye skipper."

Shepard turned his attention back to the hostages, "before you guys go, I have a tough request to ask. I need a volunteer to assist Commander Williams escorting everyone. The commander will have to take point to ensure you don't meet any unexpected surprises on your way out. Whichever of you volunteers will take the rear and be the last one to exit a room thus ensuring that everyone stays together. It's a risky job and I can't force one of you to do it but I would really like a volunteer."

None of the hostages spoke. Shepard wasn't expecting anyone to but he needed to try. He was about to tell Ashley to move out when suddenly Yuless stood up.

"I volunteer Captain," he said.

"Are you sure?" Shepard asked.

"I'm sure. I'm still worried about the ambassador but even if I can't help him, at least I can help get the rest of these people out of here.

"All right, we all have our assignments. Let's move out."

While Ashley began escorting hostages out of the ballroom, Shepard and Vega made their way to the Queen Elisabeth portrait. Shepard tilted the portrait slightly and a door opened in the wall. He and Vega raised their rifles and turned on their flashlights to scan the newly revealed hallway. Convinced there were no hostiles, Shepard signaled for Vega to take point. Shepard turned around to see Yuless helping the last of the hostages out of the room. Yuless turned and gave a thumbs-up to Shepard before following everyone out. Shepard returned the thumbs-up before turning back to the secret passage and following Vega inside.


	26. 3-6

Inside the palace's throne room, Finch was anxiously typing on a terminal. His anxiety turned to frustration as it seemed the terminal was not doing what he wanted. He slammed the keyboard and cursed. This was the fifth time he tried to execute a particular command and the fifth time it failed. Finch took a deep breath trying to keep his composure.

The slamming of the keyboard caused a muffled cry to come from the hostages who were in the room with him. Finch had placed the hostages in a straight line in front of a camera. Each hostage was from one of the council races. Between the hostages' cries and the terminal not working, Finch was having a difficult time keeping himself from exploding. He called over one of the men he had guarding the hostages.

"Tell those animals to shut up before I lose my temper," he growled, "and if I lose my temper I'm going to come over there and use one of them as a punching bag."

"I could do that for you sir," said the guard, "all this standing around is killing me. I really need to hurt an alien."

"No," Finch replied, "as much as I would like to let you, we need to leave these things somewhat presentable. If their kind sees they were treated roughly they might be motivated to fight back. Remember we're trying to scare them into submission, not intimidate them."

"Understood sir, how long until the broadcast?"

"We were supposed to have been going now but for some reason I can't get a signal out."

"Is it our jammer sir?"

"It can't be. I'm using the frequency that we're using for our comm. but somehow the signal is still being blocked."

Before the guard could make another suggestion, an alarm sounded on the terminal. Finch pushed a few buttons and a video image popped up on his screen. The video showed Shepard and Vega as they were making their way through the secret passage.

"Dammit!" he shouted. "Shepard got into the ballroom. "He probably released the other aliens. We'll have to make do with the ones we have."

"Orders sir?" the guard asked.

"Leave two men here to guard the hostages and I'll stay here and keep trying to get the broadcast started. Meanwhile you round up the rest of the men and try to ambush Shepard in the picture gallery. Stop him no matter what it takes. Shepard is not going to stop me again."

The guard saluted and called out to the other two guards in the room. He ordered them to stay with Finch and guard the hostages. He then raced out of the throne room while using his comm. to order all troops to meet him in the picture gallery.

Finch continued to feverishly type some commands on the terminal. Unfortunately the terminal continued to give him an error message. After slamming the keyboard one more time and ordering the two guards with him to keep the hostages quiet, he pulled up his omni-tool and patched through a call. He cursed again as he waited for the call to go through. Finally he was greeted by a video image of a silhouetted figure sitting at a desk.

"Mr. Finch," the figure said in a distorted voice, "I wasn't expecting to hear from you so soon. I take it our operation was a success?"

"No, actually I was calling because we need to talk about this supposedly 'top-of-the-line' equipment that you gave me for the operation."

* * *

The passage Shepard and Vega were in was long but not too narrow. Shepard took comfort in that as it meant they would have room to maneuver if they found themselves caught in a firefight. Both Shepard and Vega knew that the odds were that there might be one. Earlier they had spotted a camera mounted on the walls. They knew they couldn't disable it before it spotted them so there was no doubt Finch knew where they were.

Eventually they emerged from the secret passage and ended up in the palace's dining room. Aside from the long dining table, the room didn't offer much in terms of cover. Fortunately there weren't any hostiles in the room. There was however an explosive device on the door that led to the picture gallery. Vega was about to step out of the passage when Shepard reached across him and held him back.

"What's wrong Loco?" Vega asked.

"Take a closer look at that explosive device," Shepard replied.

Vega did as Shepard suggested. At first glance there appeared to be nothing unique about the explosive. Vega was about to say so when upon second glance he saw what Shepard had noticed. The light that was supposed to be blinking to indicate the device was armed was off. This prompted him to scan the rest of the room. It was then he noticed that there was a camera facing the direction of the secret passage. He quickly pulled his head back into the passageway.

"It's a trap," he said to Shepard.

"Yep," Shepard replied, "the minute we step out into the dining room we'll be sitting ducks for whoever is waiting for us on the other side of that door."

"So what should we do?"

"Well since there's going to be a fight anyway, we might as well be the ones to start it."

With that said Shepard armed a grenade and launched it towards the door with the explosives. The combined detonation of the grenade and explosive device blew the doors clear off their hinges and deep into the adjacent picture gallery. A collection of screams could be heard from the gallery once the explosion silenced. When the smoke cleared, there was at least one terrorist standing in the doorway. However a collection of voices giving orders told him that there were more of them in the room.

Shepard and Vega charged into the dining room during the confusion and took what little cover they could behind the table. Vega was the first one to raise his rifle and fire into the gallery. He took out the lone terrorist in the doorway and managed to hit one more who was running across the room and ended up in line with Vega's shots. When Vega's rifle needed a new thermal clip, Shepard stood up from cover and began firing. As he fired into the gallery, he also moved further down the table and closer to the door. Vega began firing again when Shepard stopped to change his clip and he too began moving closer to the door. The plan was to keep this cycle going so that the terrorists would be unable to come into the dining room where they would have an advantage.

Every once and a while, Shepard and Vega would get lucky and one of the terrorists would get hit trying to retreat. During the attack Shepard noticed that they had already hit three terrorists. According to Yuless, Finch had three terrorists with him when they took the hostages out of the ballroom. Shepard had honestly hoped that was all there was but a part of him knew that a team of thirteen men plus Finch might not be quite enough to successfully take Buckingham Palace. Who knew how many more men Shepard and Vega would actually have to deal with.

After a few more cycles of covering each other's advance, Shepard and Vega were now standing on both sides of the door leading to the picture gallery. Shepard stood on the right and Vega on the left. They were about to step inside the room when an unpleasant sight greeted them. Situated at the end of the gallery was a mounted machine gun. They were barely able to step back into the dining room before the gun started firing at them. Splinters were flying at them as the bullets struck the doorframe and shattered it. Both of them hunched down in an attempt to shield themselves.

Suddenly the machine gun stopped firing. Shepard figured it was to give the gun a chance to cool down. He quickly raised his rifle and tried to peek around to take a few shots at the gun operator. To his horror he discovered that the gun operator was covered with a bulletproof shield mounted on top of the gun. Any parts of his body not covered by the shield were covered by the gun itself. Shepard quickly ducked back into the dining room just as the gun started firing again.

"I can't get a shot," he shouted to Vega over the sounds of the machine gun fire, "the operator is shielded head to toe."

"Can we make a break for him when the gun cools down again?" Vega asked.

"He's clear at the other end of the room. The gun would be warmed up and firing again before we could get in position for a good shot and we would have no place to take cover. Besides I think the gun operator is smart enough not fire in long bursts. He won't fire again unless one of us steps into view."

Vega leaned back against the wall and silently cursed to himself in Spanish. Aside from the fact that the gun was keeping them from advancing he also realized that the gun also trapped Shepard in his current position. In order to escape, Shepard would have to step across the doorway and right into the path of the gun. Vega had to figure some way to help Shepard. He scanned the room looking for anything that could help them. A quick glance to his right helped him see something he didn't notice from the other end of the room. There was a spot in the wall where the paint color was a slightly different shade from the rest of the wall.

"Captain," he called, "did there used to be something behind this wall?"

"From what I remember from the palace plans," Shepard replied, "there used to be a doorway there that led to what used to be the music room. It took heavy damage during the war. When they were fixing up the palace, they didn't try to fix it up. Instead they just sealed over all the doors and windows. I guess they decided a music room wasn't necessary."

Vega smiled as an idea entered his mind, "I know this might sound loco but I'm going to try and flank the gunner."

"How are you going to do that?"

"I thought I'd make myself a door. Can you cover the noise?"

Shepard smiled when he realized what Vega had planned. He pulled out a grenade while Vega pulled out his shotgun and primed it with a carnage round. Shepard tossed the grenade as close to the gunner as he could. As he expected the gunner didn't try to run away. Of course the purpose of the grenade was not to inflict damage. Meanwhile Vega took a step away from the wall, and aimed at the odd-colored spot. When Shepard's grenade went off, Vega pulled the trigger. Vega's carnage round blew a hole in the wall revealing the previously sealed up music room. Thanks to the timing of his shot, the sound of the explosive round and the exploding grenade sounded like a single explosion.

While Shepard ducked back into the dining room to avoid the next burst of machine gun fire, Vega climbed through the hole he created into the music room. Or at least what was the music room. It was dark inside due to all the windows and doors being sealed over. Vega turned on his flashlight and used it to scan the right wall while running down the hallway.

Eventually Vega found a spot in the wall where the paint was a different color from the rest of the wall. The doorway that led to the picture gallery used to be in that spot. Unfortunately the sound of the machine gun fire was still coming from a few feet ahead of Vega. If Vega blew a hole in the wall where he was, he would enter the picture gallery right into the sight of the machine gunner. It was not the ideal spot for him to breach. He ran a little further into the music room and found another spot. This time he could hear the machine gun coming from behind him. Breaching this wall would put him behind the gunner. He checked his shotgun and saw that it had cooled down enough after the last carnage shot. He could fire another one whenever he was ready. With the shotgun primed, he aimed at the odd-colored spot and pulled the trigger.

The force from the shotgun blast once again blew a large hole in the wall. Not wanting to give the gunner a chance to react, Vega jumped head first through the hole shortly after he fired the shot. He did summersault when he landed to get himself situated on his feet. He then raised his shotgun, pointed it toward the gunner and fired. The clump of shotgun fragments littered the gunner's back and he slumped over his gun, dead. Vega kept his shotgun trained on the gunner as he approached him to check his pulse. When no pulse could be found, he signaled to Shepard the dining room that it was all clear.

Shepard jogged to Vega when he saw the all clear signal. Along the way, he took a mental count of all the terrorist bodies he passed. Sure enough there were more than the three bodies he had expected to see. By his count, including the gunner, there were six dead terrorists lying around the music room, bringing the total count of dead terrorists to sixteen. Unfortunately none of them were Finch. Before Shepard reached Vega, he pulled up his omni-tool and used it to hack into the machine-gun. He programmed it to fire in series of short bursts at random intervals. If any terrorists were waiting for them in the throne room, it was best they continue to act under the impression that the machine-gun was still keeping him and Vega held back.

Vega was waiting for Shepard by the doors to the throne room. When Shepard got to him, he watched as Vega first pointed to his eyes. Then he held up two fingers and pointed towards the throne room. Vega was telling him he could see two hostiles in the throne room. Shepard mouthed the words "hostages too" to which Vega replied with a nod. Shepard had a hunch that if the hostages were in there then one of the terrorists guarding them had to be Finch. The odds of two against two were also slightly better than what they had just endured in the picture gallery. If they waited for the right moment, they would be able to burst in and take out the terrorists before they had a chance to react and kill one of the hostages.

Shepard peeked through a small crack in the door. The two terrorists were standing by the hostages with their rifles at the ready. Shepard was about to give the order for Vega to breach when a voice caught his attention. He didn't see either of the terrorists' mouths moving. There was another person in the room. Add that to the fact that Shepard recognized the voice and he knew that Finch was in the room too.

Based on what Shepard could hear, it sounded like Finch was talking to someone but it wasn't one of his men. There were no voices talking back to him so Shepard figured Finch was talking to someone on a comm. terminal and had the other end of the conversation muted to everyone but him. From Finch's tone of voice it sounded like he was not happy. With Finch angrily focused on his call and the two terrorists watching the hostages, this was the perfect time for him and Vega to strike.

"You take out the guard on the right while I take out the one on the left," Shepard whispered as he let Vega peek through the crack, "once they're down I'll focus on Finch and try to get him to surrender while you tend to the hostages."

Vega nodded to indicate he understood. He then put his free hand on a door handle and waited for Shepard to give him the signal to open the door. Shepard took one final peek through the door to make sure everything was still the same as last time. The guards were still with the hostages and Finch was still shouting at his terminal. Keeping his eye on the door, Shepard held up his hand towards Vega with three fingers up. The countdown until they breach was about to commence.

Three…two…one!

When Shepard finished the countdown, he used his free hand to grab the other door handle. Then he and Vega simultaneously threw open the doors and raised their rifles. Before anyone in the room had a chance to react, Shepard and Vega had fired their weapons and two bullets went through the heads of both terrorists. Vega watched the terrorists fall down dead while Shepard quickly focused his rifle on Finch who was still processing what was happening. With the rest of the terrorists dead, Vega holstered his rifle and began freeing the hostages. Shepard was looking through his scope right at Finch's head.

"It's over Finch," he said, "step away from the terminal and put your hands on your head."

Finch made no effort to move back. The only movement he made was in his eyes. They were shifting back and forth between looking at Shepard and looking at the terminal. Shepard wasn't sure but it seemed that the look in Finch's eyes were some kind of a silent signal to whoever he was talking to on the terminal for help. Shepard glanced at the terminal but he couldn't get a good look at the face displayed on the screen from where he was. The sweat dripping on Finch's forehead indicated that he wasn't getting a response. Suddenly he slammed his fist next to the terminal. Shepard almost fired his weapon but then he heard Finch speak.

"Don't you dare hang up on me!" Finch screamed at the terminal, "This is not what you promised me! Hello?! Hello!"

Finch was now completely distraught as nothing but silence replied to his call. Deciding that Finch wasn't a threat in his current state, Shepard began to slowly approach him. All the while he kept his weapon trained on Finch's head. Finch just remained still, staring at the terminal as if that would bring the person he was talking to back. Finally Shepard was close enough to handcuff Finch's hands behind his back.

Glancing at the terminal, Shepard noticed that it was connected to what looked like the communications jammer that had been messing with his comm. As he suspected, the jammer was small enough that anyone of Finch's men who were dressed as waiters could have hidden it in their carts. He pushed a few buttons on it and soon he heard the sound of the jammer powering down. Shepard tapped his ear to activate his comm. and now with the jammer turned off he finally got a connection through. He smiled when he heard Ashley's voice answer his call.

"Is that you skipper?" said Ashley.

"It sure is Williams," Shepard replied, "I just disabled the Reds comm. jammer. Vega and I have secured the last of the hostages. Finch is in custody and all other hostiles have been terminated."

"That's great to hear. You'll also be happy to know that someone at the operations center got your message. We just met up with an Alliance squad outside the palace's main entrance and I'm turning the hostages over to them. Do you still want me to come back and give you backup?"

"That won't be necessary. Vega and I have everything under…."

(RIIIIIIIINNGG!)

Before Shepard could finish his statement, an alarm went off in the adjacent green drawing room. It sounded like a fire alarm was going off. He ran over to the door leading to the drawing room. He didn't dare try to open it fearing that it may be rigged like most of the other doors. When he pressed his ear to the door, he almost thought he heard a rainstorm coming from inside. If the fire alarm was going off, the rainstorm he was hearing was more than likely the fire sprinklers. Shepard couldn't understand why they would though. He couldn't smell any smoke so it wasn't because of a fire. But there was something in the room that he could smell. It wasn't water but something else. Suddenly he recognized the smell, gasoline.

"EVERYBODY DOWN!" he shouted as raced back to the hostages.

(KA-BOOOOOOOM!)


	27. 3-7

Everyone in the throne room was just barely able to hit the floor when a massive explosion came from the drawing room. The force of the explosion blew the drawing room doors several yards into the throne room. The doors were followed by a burst of flames. When the noise from the explosion ceased, Shepard glanced up from the ground to see that the entire drawing room was ablaze. He shook some debris off of him as he slowly got up from the floor. Vega and the hostages followed suit.

Finch on the other hand was nowhere to be seen.

"Vega where is Finch?" he said.

Vega scanned the room and realized that Shepard was right. It was then that he noticed that the door that he and Shepard had entered from was still open. Finch may have been handcuffed but he could have very easily slipped out the door while everyone else was on the ground. He was about to point it out to Shepard when he noticed something else. The room on the other side of the door was ablaze. This confused him because that door was not where the explosion came from. So why would it be on fire?

"He's escaped sir," Vega finally said to Shepard, "he got out through the picture gallery. He couldn't have gotten far though, not with the room being on fire."

"What?"

Shepard was about to question Vega further when a voice came over his comm., "Are you there Shepard? Vega? Come on skipper talk to me. Are you both alright?"

Shepard tapped his ear restoring his comm., "I'm fine Williams. Vega and the hostages are fine too but Finch has escaped and is running loose in the palace."

"What's going on in there Shepard?"

"There was an explosion in the green room. It knocked us down and Finch got away in the confusion. It looks like we're going to need that backup after all. Get another squad together and start searching the palace. Finch's is still handcuffed so he shouldn't be a threat."

"Negative skipper, it's too dangerous to send a squad in."

"What do you mean too dangerous? It was only one explosion in one room."

"Shepard it wasn't just one room. There were multiple explosions in multiple rooms. Now the entire palace is on fire."

"Say again?"

"The entire palace is on fire."

A grim thought then passed through Shepard's mind. He might have only noticed the explosion in the drawing room but if all the explosions happened simultaneously he could have easily mistook it for being the one bomb. And every sprinkler in the palace had gone off at the same time and they too were rigged with gasoline, then that meant the combined explosions practically caused the entire palace to spontaneously combust. Now Shepard understood why Vega said Finch would be slowed down by a fire.

Unfortunately it also meant Ashley was right about the backup. If the palace was on fire then it was too risky to send a squad in. Shepard and Vega were going to have to get the hostages out on their own. Shepard turned to Vega and explained what Ashley told him.

"What's going on Captain?" he asked when Shepard was finished. "Setting the entire palace on fire doesn't seem like a trustworthy escape plan. Why would Finch do it?"

"I don't think Finch is the one who's doing it. Anyway the long and short of it is we're on our own. Ashley can't send us backup and we still need to get these hostages out."

"What about Finch sir?"

"The hostages' safety come first Vega. I admit that a part of me wants to go after him but we have our priorities."

"I'll get the hostages out sir, you go after Finch."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah I can handle it. You've got some unfinished business to deal with."

Shepard smiled, "thank you, be careful Vega."

Vega saluted, "you too, Loco."

After saluting back, Shepard ran out of the throne room and began his search for Finch. Vega meanwhile stayed behind and gathered the rest of the hostages together. He told them that they would move out after he made a quick call. He then activated his comm. and called Ashley.

"Williams this is Vega," he said, "I'm going to move the hostages to the audience chamber. Have rescue crews set up an emergency ramp outside a window the hostages can use to slide down to safety."

"Will do Vega," Ashley replied, "what about the captain?"

"He's going after Finch."

"What?! Is he crazy? You both need to get out of there."

"Well I don't call him Loco for nothing."

"Vega!"

"Williams you know that he can't just let Finch escape again."

Ashley sighed, "I know….but…"

"He'll be fine. Finch is still in handcuffs so he can't fight back. The captain will find Finch and be out before you know it."

"You're right. I'll have the crews get the ramps set up before you get to the audience chamber. Good luck Vega."

"Thanks Williams, Vega out."

When Vega ended the call, he signaled for the hostages to follow him. He guided them towards the door to the picture gallery and looked towards the direction of the audience chamber. Before they even set foot out of the throne room, Vega felt as though he walked into Hell itself. The majority of the picture gallery was nothing but flames. Smoke was also filling up the ceiling. Fortunately there was a still a decent sized path that Vega could guide the hostages through. He turned to face them and signaled for them to get down low so as to keep their heads below the smoke. He then took one of the hostage's hands and put it on his shoulder before telling the others to do the same. As long as they kept their hands on their shoulders, there was little chance that they could get separated.

The trek from the throne room to audience was long and treacherous. Under normal circumstance it probably would have taken Vega less than a minute to get there. With the fire it was taking about three times that. Twice the group had to stop when the fire spread out in front of their path and forced them to take a detour. Worse still some of the hostages were already starting to cough due the intense heat and smoke. Vega's helmet did have the ability to turn into a breathing mask but it wouldn't do the hostages any good. The only hope for the hostages was for Vega to get them out before they died of smoke inhalation.

Finally the group reached the audience chamber. Vega ordered the hostages to wait where they were while he searched the room. He had told Ashley to have the rescue slide set up outside a window but there was no way to know for sure which one it was under without seeing it himself. Fortunately he didn't have to check too many windows before he found the one with the ramp. He would have hostages out in no time. He quickly opened window with the ramp before calling everyone over. Getting the hostages into a single file line, Vega began helping each hostage crawl out and slide down to the safety of waiting Alliance soldiers.

As he was helping the hostages out, Vega noticed that one of the hostages, a salarian, was hesitant about climbing out the window. Vega figured that as the only salarian among the hostages, it had to be Ambassador Rosila. He walked over to the ambassador and saw that he was shaking with fear.

"Are you okay?" he asked the ambassador.

"Not really," the ambassador replied, "I'm kind of afraid of heights. I've been that way since I was a kid. I wouldn't even climb the trees in my backyard."

"I assure you Ambassador Rosila that the trip down is perfectly safe. You'll slide to the bottom quickly and there will be several soldiers there waiting to catch you."

"I guess you're right. Besides it's not like I have another…..wait a minute how do you know my name."

"We met your bodyguard Avot Yuless in the ballroom. He told us that you were here with this group."

The ambassador looked at Vega confused, "bodyguard? What are you talking about? I didn't bring any of my bodyguards with me and even if I did none of them have that name."

Now it was Vega who looked confused, "what do you mean?"

"Well I didn't think I was going to need bodyguards. I figured the palace's security forces would be adequate protection. I don't know who this Yuless person is but I can assure he is not one of my bodyguards."

Before Vega could think about the matter some more, an alarm sounded inside the audience chamber. This one was different however. Instead of making a ringing bell sound like the fire alarms, this one made a horn like sound that would be used as an intruder alarm. Vega's eyes widened as he realized what the alarm was. He turned behind him and saw that all of the hostages were already outside. Ambassador Rosila was the only hostage still inside but he didn't make any move to the window as he too was confused by the alarm. Not taking time to explain, Vega grabbed the ambassador and threw him out the window and down the ramp.

Vega had barely gotten the ambassador out when he heard a new sound coming from above. This one sounded like a hatch opening. Vega looked up just in time to see a large steel door emerge from the top of the window. The door came smashing down completely sealing the window. Even though he knew it was useless to try, Vega tried to lift the steel door. Sure enough, the door was several tons of metal and could not be lifted. Not even by someone who worked out as hard as Vega did.

Vega activated his comm., "Loco I got the hostages out but something triggered the palace's lockdown protocols."

Silence.

"Captain, do you read me? Come in Captain, are you okay?"

Finally Vega heard Shepard's voice, "Vega….I….I'm fine. Finch….Finch is dead."

Vega became concerned. Shepard was having trouble speaking. He sounded like a person who had killed someone for the first time. But Vega knew that was not possible. Between the Reaper War and the rest of his military career, Shepard had killed thousands of people. Something was wrong.

"What happened sir?"

* * *

A few minutes earlier:

Shepard had just reached the stairwell and was proceeding down to the first floor. He hadn't seen Finch since he left the throne room so it was initially difficult for him to determine which way to go through the palace. Then he realized that the fire was providing all the help he needed. A person could only travel in certain directions if most of place was on fire. So all Shepard had to do was stick to the spots that were not ablaze and follow the trail it created.

The trail was now taking him down to the first floor. He stepped out of the stairwell and into a hallway with his rifle raised and started scanning for Finch. Shepard figured that he had to be getting close to catching up with him. Finch still had his hands cuffed behind his back so it would be difficult for him to move from room to room with ease. His attention was soon caught by the sound of a door opening further down the hall. Throwing caution to the wind he ran towards the source of the sound. Soon the hallway intersected with another hallway and Shepard stopped to look up and down the new hallway. When he glanced to his right he was just able to make out a door closing on the left side. A quick recap of the palace plans in his head told Shepard that room would have a window facing the exterior of the palace. It was a perfect place for Finch to make his escape.

Shepard ran for the door but stopped when he heard a crash on the other side. He placed himself against the wall next to the door and listened. There wasn't any noise for a while after the sound of the crash. Then Shepard heard what sounded like pieces of glass being shuffled around. He now understood what was going on. Finch had broken the window and was now clearing away the broken glass so he could climb over the ledge and escape.

With his rifle raised again, Shepard opened the door and stepped inside. He quickly focused on the window and saw that Finch was now halfway out the window.

"FREEZE FINCH!" he shouted.

The sudden sound caused Finch to freeze and he was now sitting on the window ledge like a horseback rider. He angled his upper body towards Shepard and sighed in frustration as soon as he saw him.

"Don't move a muscle," Shepard continued, "if you attempt to flee I will shoot."

Keeping his rifle focused on Finch's head, Shepard slowly approached him.

"Don't think that this is over Shepard," Finch growled, "you may have stopped me twice now but someday I will bring the Reds back to full strength and we will get all of humanity to stand with us in our campaign to repel the aliens from Earth."

"I doubt it Finch," Shepard replied as he was now inches from Finch, "how do you expect to recruit new members if you're going to be rotting in an Alliance prison?"

Finch laughed, "With the information I have, the Alliance will have no choice but to negotiate a lighter sentence."

Shepard froze where he was and slowly lowered his rifle, "What information could you possibly have that the Alliance would want.

"To be honest Shepard I wouldn't have been able to launch this operation without help. I was approached by someone who had both the credits and the access I needed. Not only that, but this person had quite a resume. They had also funded operations that nearly led to a coup and mass genocide. I should have taken the fact that those operations failed into account and turned them down but the chance to tell the galaxy our message was too good to pass up. It turned out that my initial hunch was right. The equipment I was provided hasn't worked at all like it was supposed to. I was talking to my backer when you caught me and all I was told was that there was nothing that could be done about it. Now I've apparently been abandoned and thrown to the Alliance but I will get my payback. It doesn't matter though. Once I tell the Alliance about my backer, it will be them going to prison and not me."

A chill went up Shepard's spine. He knew all too well about the operations Finch was talking about. In fact he was the one who stopped them. The attempted coup was Balak's attack on the batarian government and the attempted genocide was Dalatrass Linron's plot to wipe out a large krogan city. During the course his investigation, Shepard realized that both plans received funding from the same unknown backer. Despite using every resource at his disposal, Shepard had been unable to come up with a clue to the backer's identity.

Now it seemed that Finch too had received funding for his operation from the same mystery backer. Balak was dead and the Dalatrass had turned down countless offers for leniency in exchange for identifying the backer. Finch on the other hand was both alive and seemed anxious to talk. This was the first big break Shepard had in learning the backer's identity.

On the other hand, he didn't want to give Finch the opportunity to negotiate his way out of jail early. Between this hostage crisis and the abduction of the politician's daughter as well as any other crimes Finch and the Reds might have committed in between, Finch deserved life in prison. Shepard decided to play one card to try and get Finch to give him the name without making a deal. He didn't like the particular card but it was the only one he had that might have a chance to work. He holstered his rifle and pulled Finch from the window and put him up against the wall. He then pulled out his pistol and pointed it right at Finch's head.

"I have a better idea Finch," he growled, "you are going to give me the name of your backer and then both of you go to prison. If you don't, then I put a bullet through your head right here and now. True I would rather have the name but there's no way I'm going to let you talk your way out of doing time for all the crimes you and the Reds have committed. The choice is yours Finch. Would you rather be a dead man or a live prisoner?"

Finch just smiled, "you won't kill me Shepard. Even though you are an alien foot soldier you still have a strong paragon nature. Killing an unarmed prisoner would go against that. Now if you don't mind I would like to get out of here before we burn along with the palace."

Shepard kept his gun pointed at Finch. His hand shook as he thought about pulling the trigger. Finally after breathing a sigh of frustration, Shepard holstered his pistol. Finch was right. Finch may have been among the worst criminals Shepard had known but he would not allow himself to execute a prisoner in cold blood. He gestured towards the window indicating that Finch could climb out. The menacing chuckle Finch gave as he began to climb out nearly caused Shepard to cringe. All he could do was tell himself that getting the backer's name would make all of this worth it in the end.

Suddenly an alarm went off. Shepard thought it was the fire alarm again but quickly realized that it was making a different sound from the fire alarm he heard earlier. He and Finch froze and scanned the room trying to determine what triggered the alarm. Their attention was soon caught by a new sound coming from above. The source of the sound was instantly found when they looked up and it was not a good one.

To Shepard's horror, a large steel door had begun to drop from the top of the window. It came down so fast that there was no time for anyone to react. Finch who had only managed to get one leg out window screamed just before the heavy steel door came down on top of him. Shepard turned away from the window just before the impact. Shortly after hearing the sound of the impact, Shepard felt something wet hit his face. He used his hand to wipe some of the stuff off his face. It was a dark red liquid, Finch's blood.

Slowly Shepard turned back only to become disgusted by the new sight that greeted him. Finch, or at least half of him, was lying on the floor below the window which was now sealed by the steel door. The door itself was covered with spots of Finch's blood. It was a mess. Ironically the only thing that wasn't a mess was Finch's body. The door had sliced him clean through like a butcher slicing a piece of meat. However clean or messy the scene was, there was no two ways about it. Finch was dead.


	28. 3-8

Shepard stood there staring at Finch's body until he heard Vega's voice over his comm., "Captain, do you read me? Come in Captain, are you okay?"

Shepard tapped his ear, "Vega….I….I'm fine. Finch….Finch is dead."

"What happened sir?"

"I had just recaptured him on the first floor and we were about to get out through a window when an alarm went off. Next thing I know a steel door came down and sliced Finch in half when he was climbing out the window."

"Dios mío (My god)."

"What's going on Vega?"

"From what I remember when I was briefed on the palace's security, the steel doors are part of the lockdown procedures but I can't figure out why they would be going off now."

"So we're trapped in here?"

"Well, normally yes."

"Normally?"

"Normally all the doors and window are supposed to be sealed when lockdown is initiated but I just stepped out of the audience chamber and it looks some of the windows are still open. How about you? Are there still some windows open downstairs?"

Shepard checked the other windows in the room he was in and saw that all of them were sealed. He then ran out into the hallway and headed one door down the hall. A quick peek inside revealed that the windows inside were still open.

"Yeah it looks like the lockdown only sealed this room too," he said to Vega over the comm., "the other windows on this floor appear to still be open."

"Ok," Vega replied, "it will probably be a while before the rescue teams can get another ramp set up at one of the other upstairs windows. I'll head down and get out the first open window I find. You should probably do the same."

"Sounds like a plan. Be careful and I'll see you outside."

"Aye-aye sir, Vega out."

As soon as Vega signed off, Shepard raced inside the room with the open window. He got halfway across the room when he heard a now familiar sound. Shortly after he heard it, large steel doors came down and sealed all the windows in the room. Shepard quickly retreated out of the room and ran into the next one down the hall. This time he was barely able to get inside the room before the windows locked down. He tried a few more rooms but it soon became apparent now that all the rooms were locking down before he could get to them.

"Dammit!" Shepard cursed.

Time was running out for Shepard. Eventually he was either going to run out of oxygen or the palace would become completely engulfed by the flames and him with it. He needed to find a way out and fast. He tapped his ear and began putting through a call to Ashley. He figured that she and everyone else in the operations center could come up with a better escape plan than he could and much quicker.

(CRACK!)

Shepard was so focused on putting through the call that he didn't notice the ceiling directly above him was starting to crack. When the crack became big enough, a large chunk of the ceiling broke loose and began to fall towards him.

* * *

"What the hell is going on in there?"

Outside the palace, Ashley had burst into the operations center after hearing news from the rescue crews. They had reported that the last of the hostages had been safely evacuated. Unfortunately before Vega could join them, all the room's windows were sealed by large steel doors effectively trapping Vega inside. With no way of knowing where Vega was, the rescue crews had no idea where to set up a new escape ramp.

Worse still, a group of soldiers stationed along the perimeter of the palace reported seeing Shepard and Finch in one of the first floor windows. Shepard was escorting Finch out the window when a steel door came down and sliced Finch in half. With the room completely sealed, the only thing the soldiers could see was the half of Finch that fell out the window. No word from Shepard or Vega had been heard since and now Ashley was getting worried. Despite all the hostages being safely out of the palace, the crisis was not quite over yet.

"I don't know Commander," one of the technicians in the operation center replied, "the palace is going into lockdown."

"Who ordered the lockdown?"

"As far as we can tell nobody ordered it. The doors just started closing by themselves."

Sure enough when Ashley looked at the tech's screen, she could see a three dimensional map of the palace. Several windows were flashing red to indicate that they were locked down. The only thing Ashley couldn't understand was why it was only certain windows that were closed. A lockdown wouldn't be much use if it didn't seal up the whole palace at once. Something wasn't adding up. But the time to figure it out wasn't then. First Ashley needed to focus on getting Shepard and Vega out of the palace.

Then the technician's screen began flashing and an alarm sounded. Suddenly more windows began to flash red. When the screen finally stopped flashing, all the windows on the first floor were colored red indicating they were all sealed. Also all the exterior windows on the second floor were sealed. With those windows closed, setting up a new escape ramp was now out of the question. The situation for Shepard and Vega had gotten worse.

"Can't we override the lockdown?" Ashley asked.

"I'm working on it now Commander," another technician replied, "once I enter the passcode I will be able to….what the hell?"

"What's wrong?" Ashley asked concerned.

"I don't know. I entered the correct code but it didn't work."

"Try again."

Ashley watched as the tech entered the code again and then two more times after that. Each time ended with the same result. The computer would process the code for a few seconds. Then it would just stop. There was no code rejected message of any kind. It just stopped processing the code.

"No good Commander. The computer won't take the code. It's almost like something or someone is stopping the code from being fully processed."

"Dammit," Ashley said as she slammed a fist on the table near the computer. If they couldn't get the doors open there was a very good chance that Shepard and Vega would be trapped in the palace and at the mercy of the flames and smoke. She quickly ran through ideas for alternate options but shot down each one. Even if the fire wasn't already making it risky, with the doors closed they could not send in a rescue team. They could try to break or cut through the steel doors but that would take time, time Shepard and Vega didn't have. After shooting down her latest idea, it was then that Ashley noticed that her minor outburst had attracted the attention of everyone in the operations center.

"ALL RIGHT EVERYONE LISTEN UP!" she said loud enough for everyone to hear. "We have two of our own trapped inside the palace and they are running out of time. We need to find a way to get them out before they burn along with the palace. LET'S BRING OUR PEOPLE HOME!"

While everyone went to work, Ashley quickly stepped out of the operations center to get away from the others. She may have been able to give her orders with the leadership and authority the situation called for but once she was outside and by herself, the first tear began to appear in her eyes. She wanted to believe that the combined intellectual power of everyone in the operations center would be able to figure some way to get Shepard and Vega out safely but she knew there wasn't much any of them could do in what little time they still had. There was only one thing that was keeping her hopeful for a happy ending. It was the fact that she knew her husband well. Shepard had always come back to her in the past and if anyone could find a way out of an impossible situation, it was him.

Ashley stood outside the operations center for what felt like hours when she heard a voice calling her, "Commander come quick, we have a call from Captain Shepard coming in on the comm."

* * *

"LOCO WATCH OUT!"

Shepard had just gotten his call through to the operations center and was waiting for Ashley to speak when he heard a voice call him. Before Shepard could see who it was, he was shoved out of the way just before a large piece of the ceiling landed on top of him. The piece proceeded all the way down to floor and made a loud smash when it impacted. Shepard slowly got up from the floor and saw Vega next to him getting up as well.

"Thanks for the save Vega," he said.

"Anytime," Vega replied, "I guess we can add crumbling palace to our list of things that can kill us in here."

"Looks like. I've checked every room I've come across but all the windows get locked down before I even have a chance to enter."

"I was having a similar problem before I found you. There are still a few rooms we haven't checked yet but I'll bet we'll have the same results."

"Skipper, do you read me?" Come on skipper answer me."

Ashley's voice in his ear reminded Shepard of the call he was in the middle of before Vega saved him, "I read you Williams. Vega and I are fine."

Shepard could hear Ashley breathe a sigh of relief, "it's good to hear your voice skipper. You had me worried for a while."

"Not my intention. Vega and I are on the first floor trying to find a way out but every window we come across is locked down."

"I know. I'm in the operations center and we got the confirmation a short while ago that the entire first floor has been sealed. One of our technicians is trying to override the lockdown commands but something keeps kicking him out. Shepard those steel doors are practically impregnable. Unless we get them open I don't know how we can get you two out of there."

"Well we can't wait out the lockdown. We'll run out of oxygen soon or get burned alive once the fire consumes the rest of the palace. There's got to be a way out of here."

"Williams," said Vega, "you said the entire first floor was sealed. Is the second floor sealed as well?"

"What are you thinking Vega?" asked Shepard.

"I still have some extra rope that we didn't use to fast-rope into the ballroom. I know we can't wait for an escape slide to be set up but we can at least use the rope to climb down. Of course that will only work if not all the windows are sealed."

Suddenly Shepard and Vega heard Ashley cheer over the comm., "That's great to hear Vega. I was going to say the second floor was no good because all the exterior windows were sealed so we couldn't set up escape ramps even if we had time. But the windows that overlook the interior courtyard are still open. If you still have some rope, you can climb out one of the windows and I'll have a shuttle land in the courtyard waiting to extract you.

Vega smiled, "I have a better idea. There's a balcony right outside the green drawing room. The shuttle could hover by the balcony and Shepard and I won't even need the rope."

Shepard nodded, "I like it. Williams get a shuttle in the air. Vega and I will head up to the balcony and rendezvous with the shuttle there."

"Aye-aye skipper, when you meet the shuttle I'll be on board waiting for you."

"Copy that. See you soon, Shepard out."

After signing off, Shepard and Vega backtracked out the stairwell to head back to the second floor. By the now the fires were almost completely consuming every room. The heat was almost suffocating. It was so hot that Shepard and Vega had to adjust the temperature regulators on theirs suits to cool down. Hopefully if their plan worked they wouldn't be burning hot much longer.

The trek upstairs proved more difficult than the trip they made coming down due to how much the fire had spread since Shepard and Vega used it to go down to the first floor. They also had to be watching their heads as the fire was causing more sections of the ceiling to collapse. When they reached the second floor they headed for the throne room. Along the way they checked each room to for any window that led to the exterior of the palace that might have still been open. Unfortunately it proved hopeless as they realized that Ashley was right. None of the windows they checked were open.

Deciding not to check windows anymore, they focused on getting to the throne room. When they reached it, they were relieved to see that it still had not caught fire. Their relief was short lived. When they glanced into the adjacent green drawing room, they froze in horror when they saw what awaited them. The fire had now consumed the entire room. It made sense as it was where one of the initial explosions that started the fire was located. Suddenly, over the sounds of the crackling flames, Shepard and Vega heard a shuttle entering the courtyard. Ashley and the escape shuttle had arrived.

"I don't think we have much of a choice Loco," said Vega, "that window is our best chance of getting out of here."

Upon reviewing their options, Shepard realized that Vega was right. They were going to have to run through the flames to get to the window. As long as they made it out onto the balcony, they would be able to put out any parts of their body that caught fire quickly. First they needed to open the window. Shepard turned to Vega and pointed at the center window. Vega nodded that he understood what Shepard wanted and pulled out his shotgun. He primed it with a carnage round, aimed and fired. The shell shattered the window and the shards rained down onto the floor. They took a few quick breaths and when Shepard counted to three, they charged into the drawing room.

The fires started burning them as soon as they took their first step inside. It was taking every ounce of their willpower to tune out the pain and focus on the window. Unfortunately they were so focused on running to the window that they didn't realize that a familiar alarm had started going off. Shepard was the first one to reach the window. He was hopping over the ledge when a hatch opened at the top of the window and the large steel door began make its descent. Just when he made it out and before Vega could attempt to climb out, the door had reached the bottom of its drop, sealing the window.

A large part of Shepard's armor was on fire so he hit the ground as soon as he was on the balcony. He rolled around on the ground in an attempt to put the fires out. As soon as the last flame was extinguished, Shepard looked himself over and saw that the fire had not been able to burn through his armor. Relieved that he made it out unscathed, he turned around hoping to see Vega right behind him but was only greeted by the large steel door that had sealed the window.

"Vega?" he called out.

"AAAAHHHHHHH!"

An almost blood-curdling scream came from the other side of the door. Vega was still inside the drawing room and was no doubt completely ablaze by now. Shepard ran to the window and feverishly tried to get the steel door to open. It was a hopeless task but hearing Vega's screams were causing him not to think straight. When he finally realized that the door wasn't opening, he started banging on it with his rifle butt.

Ashley, who was on board the shuttle waiting for them, saw what had happened and jumped onto the balcony. She ran towards Shepard who had suddenly stopped banging on the door. Shepard was now putting his ear against the door. Ashley listened herself and realized what had made Shepard stopped banging on the door. Through the steel door, she could hear Vega was trying to say something. From where she was, she couldn't make out what Vega said. She could tell however that Shepard did. Shepard stepped away from the window looking slightly confused at what he heard but then his face tensed with anger.

"Son of a bitch," Ashley could hear Shepard say softly to himself. Ashley was about to ask him about it when she realized that there was no longer any sound of life coming from inside the palace. In fact the only sound that could be heard was the crackling sound of the flames. Ashley saw that Shepard's look of anger turned to into one of someone whose heart had sunk after hearing some bad news. Ashley was about to grab Shepard by the arm and guide him to the shuttle when suddenly he started banging on the door with his rifle again.

"VEGA!" he shouted, "VEGA TALK TO ME! COME ON VEGA SAY SOMETHING! VEGA!"

As Shepard continued banging on the door, Ashley stood where she was with her head bowed. A tear started to fall down her face. Eventually she composed herself enough to grab Shepard and pull him away. Unfortunately Shepard was not making it easy for her.

"NO ASHLEY!" he shouted. "LET GO OF ME! VEGA'S STILL IN THERE! WE HAVE TO HELP HIM!"

"THERE'S NOTHING WE CAN DO!" Ashley said as she struggled to keep Shepard moving. "He's gone."

"NO HE'S NOT! WE CAN STILL HELP HIM!"

"MARK STOP!"

Shepard stopped struggling. Hearing Ashley call him by his first name surprised him. Normally in the field she would call him "Shepard" or "skipper." His eyes followed her as she came around from behind him and stood face to face with him. He noticed tears falling down her face. Then Ashley reached up and placed a hand on Shepard's cheek.

"I'm sorry Mark," she said almost sobbing, "he's gone."

Shepard bowed his head. He knew that Ashley was right. He pulled Ashley towards him and they embraced. Once they were in each other's arms, Shepard heard Ashley sob. They just stood there crying for a minute when the shuttle pilot called out saying that they had to clear the palace grounds so that the firefighting crews could get to work. The interruption was enough to snap Shepard out his sadness and his face was again tense with anger. He broke away from Ashley and headed towards the shuttle. Ashley followed close behind him.

"Get the operations center on the comm.," Shepard called out to the shuttle pilot.

"Yes sir," the pilot replied.

"What's wrong skipper?" Ashley asked.

"Vega said something to me before he died," answered Shepard, "he said that Ambassador Rosila didn't have any bodyguards with him. Yuless lied to us."


	29. 3-9

The shuttle ride back to the operations center was a quiet one. Ashley sat crying with her head on Shepard's shoulder. Shepard had his arm around her trying to comfort her. He wasn't crying himself. He was more focused on what Vega had told him before he died. On the surface it didn't make sense. Even if Yuless lied about being a bodyguard it didn't mean he was working with Finch. Yuless was a salarian and Finch hated all aliens. There was no way Finch would let an alien help him.

Finch's info about his backer was the only reason Shepard could find a sensible explanation for it. When he stopped Dalatrass Linron's plot to wipe out the krogan, he found out that the backer was involved via word of mouth from Blue Suns commander Vido Santiago. Later he found that one of the turian members of the Blue Suns mercenary group had sent a message to an unknown recipient before he died from injuries he sustained during the fight. With Vido already dead by that point and the Dalatrass already in custody, Shepard figured the message went to the backer. This led him to conclude that the turian was a sleeper agent for the backer. It was now highly likely that Yuless was serving a similar role.

The shuttle pilot informed Shepard that they were about to land at the operations center. There was no doubt that by now everyone at the operations center had heard what happened to Vega and there would be no smiles waiting for them. Sure enough when Shepard and Ashley stepped off the shuttle, they were greeted by a lot of long faces. Everyone outside the shuttle saluted Shepard and Ashley when they were off the shuttle. Shepard and Ashley returned the salutes and everyone held their salutes for a minute to observe a moment of silence for Vega. When the salutes were dropped, Shepard and Ashley made their way to main tent.

Inside Shepard and Ashley were greeted by the sight of Yuless strapped to a chair in the center of the tent. He didn't even look up when Shepard and Ashley entered but Shepard could see that there were some fresh bruises on his face. Surrounding Yuless were four Alliance soldiers. Each one was armed with either a shotgun or assault rifle. One of the soldiers was the lieutenant that doubted Shepard's HALO jump plan. When he saw Shepard and Ashley enter, he called every to attention and saluted. Shepard and Ashley returned the salutes.

"Did the prisoner give you some trouble?" Shepard asked after the salutes were dropped and while pointing to the bruises on Yuless' face.

"Yes sir," the lieutenant replied, "when we went to make the arrest, he tried to run. I think this guy either is or was with the salarian STG (Special Tasks Group). It took four of us to get him on the ground and in handcuffs."

"Did you find anything on him?"

"Not 'on him' but we did discover something big when we checked his omni-tool. The techs confirmed that his omni-tool was the source of the signals that were keeping them out of the lockdown protocols. In fact his omni-tool was not only synced with lockdown protocols, but also the camera and sprinkler systems. If I had to guess I would say he was also the one who detonated the bomb that started the fire"

Shepard angrily stared at Yuless. What the lieutenant had said confirmed what he had suspected when Vega told him about Yuless' lie. Yuless was the one responsible for every bad thing that happened after he first captured Finch in the throne room. The sprinklers going off, the bomb detonating, the lockdown being initiated, and most importantly he was responsible for Vega's death.

"There was one thing that we couldn't explain however," continued the lieutenant, "according to his omni-tool, he also hacked into the Reds comm. jammer. He was jamming every attempt by the Reds to begin the execution broadcast that the leader boasted about."

The lieutenant's last comment made Shepard confused. Yuless jamming the Reds broadcast signal did explain why Shepard and Vega were easily able to save the hostages in the throne room. The time it took them to fight their way from the ballroom to the throne was more than enough time for Finch to start the broadcast and carry out the executions. But with Yuless jamming the signal, it bought Shepard and Vega enough time to save everyone.

But it also raised yet another question. The way Shepard understood things, the mystery backer offered to help Finch with his plan to take the palace and broadcast the executions. So why would Yuless, the backer's sleeper agent, intentionally jam the broadcast signal effectively saving the hostages? That was what Shepard was going to have to ask Yuless. He walked up to Yuless and crouched down so that he was eye level with Yuless. Yuless still didn't look up at Shepard.

"You heard everything the lieutenant said right Yuless?" Shepard asked. "It doesn't look good for you. You are responsible for the death of an Alliance marine. A lot of the soldiers outside this tent and maybe some of the ones that are in here are going to want your head. I can't say I blame them. I want it too but fortunately for you there is someone whose head I want more than yours: your employer. If you tell me who it is and where they are, I promise that I will see to it that you don't face the death penalty for what you've done."

For the first time since Shepard stepped into the tent, Yuless looked up and locked eyes with him. An evil smile appeared on his face and he started laughing menacingly.

"Then what would you do?" he chuckled. "Would you run charging to their base and kill them?"

"If they leave me no choice then I will. But I would prefer to bring them in alive to face trial for what they've done."

"Well good luck with that. You have no idea who you are dealing with. It's kind of funny, the great Captain Shepard stumbling around in the dark without a clue as to what is going on. That only proves that my boss is more powerful than you can imagine. The endgame is coming Shepard and I'm afraid it's not going to end well for you. So I suggest that you and your wife enjoy the little time that you have left."

Yuless nodded towards Ashley when he made his last statement and then began to make a subtle maniacal laugh. Ashley looked to Shepard and saw that his face was turning red. He looked like a boiling volcano ready to erupt. Yuless' laugh growing in volume certainly wasn't helping the situation. Ashley stepped forward to put a hand on Shepard's shoulder in an attempt to calm him down. But she was too late. Shepard snapped and lunged at Yuless grabbing him by the throat. Yuless continued to laugh the entire time.

"NOW YOU LISTEN TO ME YOU SON OF A BITCH!" he shouted. "GIVE ME THE NAME OF YOUR BOSS OR SO HELP ME I'LL…!"

Shepard didn't have a chance to finish his statement. Yuless had suddenly stopped laughing and was now foaming at the mouth. He instantly realized what was wrong. Yuless had taken a cyanide capsule. He quickly took off Yuless' restraints and helped him out of the chair and down to the ground.

"WILLIAMS GET A MEDIC NOW!" he shouted.

Ashley raced out of the tent to find a medic while Shepard did what he could to try to keep Yuless alive. Unfortunately it only took him a few seconds to realize that any first aid was pointless. He felt Yuless' neck but couldn't find a pulse. He turned around just in time to see the medic entering the tent. The medic was about to work on Yuless when he noticed Shepard shaking his head. It was too late. Yuless was dead.

* * *

Several hours after everything was secure at Buckingham Palace, Shepard and Ashley were on board the Normandy heading for the Citadel. After everything that happened in London, it was hard for them to go back to their cabin and continue their anniversary celebration in Alaska. As a result they decided to end their vacation early and head back to their home on the Citadel. The Normandy crew attempted to have an impromptu anniversary party for Shepard and Ashley but neither of them was in a party mood. They did allow the crew to have one toast of champagne for their anniversary.

Immediately after the toast, Shepard ordered all the crew to get into their dress uniforms and meet at the memorial wall on the crew deck to have a memorial for Vega. Once everyone was gathered, Shepard stepped forward and placed a plaque with Vega's name on its spot on the wall. He then took a step back and saluted. The rest of the crew did the same. As everyone stood at attention, all Shepard could think about was how discomforting it was to see the wall with another name added. Even with the Reaper War being over for nearly two years, four names had been added during that time.

Shepard turned to address the crew when the salutes were dropped, "I first met Lieutenant-Commander James Vega when he was assigned to be my guard while I was under house arrest for what happened in the Bahak system. Shortly after that was when the Reapers invaded. Vega wanted to stay and fight but I insisted that we had to go to the Council to get help for the fight. Even though he eventually agreed with me, I did appreciate his willingness to stay and fight. We both were born on Earth and we each shared a strong desire to fight for the safety of our home world. I guess that's one thing that helped me relate to him quickly. When Vega was first offered his N7 commendation, he was unsure of whether to take it or not so he came to me for advice. As great a soldier as he was, he had doubts about accepting the commendation. He had a rough spot in his career where he was on mission that resulted in the death of all but one of his squad. He didn't know if he could someday accept the mantle of command again. After I gave him a pep talk, he accepted the commendation and from what I could tell in London during our mission at the palace, he was well on his way to becoming a great commander. I only regret that we no longer have the chance to see just how great he could have been. Rest in peace Vega, the galaxy is lesser for your loss."

After Shepard finished the eulogy, he dismissed the crew. While the crew headed back to their posts, Shepard remained behind to look at the wall a little longer. It was something he did every time a new name was added to it. He preferred to have some alone time with all his fallen comrades. When his crewmember Kaiden Alenko was killed on Virmire, Shepard told Ashley that whenever he lost someone, he would make a promise to that person that he would always remember them and strive to do better for them. That was what he was doing now for Vega. Shepard just finished his promise when he felt Ashley's hand on his shoulder. He turned towards her and the two embraced.

"You know that I'll help you keep your promise however I can right?" she said.

"I know Ash," Shepard replied, "thank you."

"Are you ready to go up to our cabin?"

"Not yet. I have some final business to take care of regarding London. You go on ahead. I promise I'll be up shortly."

They kissed and Shepard watched Ashley as she got on the elevator and headed up to the captain's cabin. Once the elevator doors closed, Shepard walked over to what used to be Ashley's executive officer's quarters. After Shepard and Ashley had gotten married, Ashley moved all her personal items out of the XO quarters and now she and Shepard shared the captain's cabin. The XO office was also remodeled so that it no longer served as living quarters. Now it served as a double office suite that both Shepard and Ashley used when they were on duty.

In the office Shepard sat down behind his desk and used his terminal to patch a call through to his friend Liara T'Soni. Before leaving the palace, Shepard sent a message to Liara asking for her help as the Shadow Broker. He trusted the Alliance investigators who were trying to determine how the hostage crisis was able to occur but he knew that Liara had access to information that the Alliance would never be able to get on their own. He asked Liara to find out everything she could about Yuless and to figure out how Finch and his men were able to get jobs at the palace despite their criminal records. Shortly after putting through the call, Shepard was greeted by Liara's image on his terminal.

"Shepard," she greeted, "according to my clock it is still your anniversary. I know it hasn't been one but Happy Anniversary."

"Thanks Liara," Shepard said, "I'll be sure to pass your wishes to Ashley. Did you have any luck with those requests I asked you about in my message?"

"Yes and no. It turns out that one thing Yuless didn't lie to you about was his name. According to his records he was with the STG for a few years but he was kicked out when it was discovered that he was stealing credits that his team recovered on their raids. Unfortunately after his discharge he literally seemed to disappear. I can't find any signs of what he did between his discharge and you finding him at the palace."

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised. We didn't find much on the turian sleeper agent from the Dalatrass' plot."

"Unfortunately I also had mixed success trying to figure out how Finch and his men got into the palace. I looked into the company that did the background checks when they applied for jobs at the palace. They were a fairly respectable company that the Alliance used many times in the past."

"Were?"

"That's where the mixed success comes into play. The company just folded up shop around the time the crisis in London began. According to a statement from the company, they couldn't stay in business because of a sudden loss of funds. I checked their finances and sure enough, one minute the company was doing well and the next the money was just gone. When the company folded, all their records were wiped so I can't find out who did the checks for Finch and his men."

Shepard rubbed his chin as he thought about what Liara said, "that might have been the point. From what we've been able to determine about this mystery backer, they are very powerful and well-funded. They could have been a major contributor of the background check company and reached out to whoever did the check on Finch and his men and paid them off to pass them. Then once the crisis had begun, the backer pulls their funding which is just enough to shut the company down and the records get destroyed before anyone has a chance to make the connection."

"That sounds logical but there is no way for me to find out for sure. The majority of the financers gave their money anonymously. Yet another way the backer is covering their tracks. I'll be honest Shepard. This backer is really starting to get on my nerves."

"Me too Liara, but what really bothers me is what Yuless told me. He was right about me. I've been trying to catch this backer for almost two years and I still am no closer to figuring out who it is or what they're planning. Worse still, according to Yuless the endgame of the backer's plan is coming."

"How is that possible? In the first place, I just can't see how a coup to overthrow the batarian government, a plot to start a war with the krogan and a hostage crisis could possibly build up to anything. Secondly you stopped each one on those plots. How could the endgame still be coming if each step building up to it failed?"

"I don't know but we need to find out. Identifying the backer is now my top priority. Whatever this backer's endgame is needs to be stopped. I'm sure that once I explain this to Councilor Hackett he will get the Council and the Alliance to let me take some time to look into this on my own. Obviously Ashley will want to help as well. What about you Liara? Can I count on your support?"

"You have to ask Shepard? You do what you need to do. Meanwhile I'll continue to pour all my resources to try to identify the backer on my end. If you find any information that will help, let me know and I will be ready to analyze it."

"Thanks Liara, Shepard out."

When Liara's image vanished from the terminal, Shepard sat back in his chair and turned it so he could look out the window. Looking at the empty void of space was both a way for him to relax and something he did to help him think. This time however, it wasn't doing either. He couldn't get the backer out of his mind and he kept coming up blank trying to figure out how to identify them. He hadn't told Liara but there was another reason why he wanted the backer stopped though he was sure she knew what it was. Vega was now the third friend he had lost because of the backer's plans. Aside from stopping the backer's endgame, he wanted to ensure that Vega, Zaeed and Grunt got the justice they deserved.

With nothing more for him to do in the office, Shepard headed up to his cabin. Ashley was already asleep when he entered. Shepard couldn't help but smile when he saw her. Ashley looked so peaceful. As he put on his pajamas, Shepard thought about the promise he made her when they left their cabin in Alaska. Investigating the backer was still a priority but he owed Ashley a proper celebration of their first anniversary. Shepard climbed into bed trying not to wake Ashley. He realized he didn't succeed as he felt Ashley turn over and place one arm across his chest. He took her hand and turned his head to see Ashley smiling at him.

"Do you want to talk about what your final business was?" she asked.

"Yeah but not now," Shepard replied, "we have a lot of work ahead of us but it can wait. Tomorrow I'm giving you the proper anniversary celebration I promised. So tell me Mrs. Shepard, what do you want do?"

"All I want Mr. Shepard is for us to go home and just have a day to ourselves."

Shepard smiled, "if that's what you want then that is what you'll get. Once we're back on the Citadel we'll lock ourselves in our apartment for the day and not answer any calls. It will be just you and me."

"Sounds perfect, I love you."

"I love you too Ash."

* * *

The lone figure sat in their office in an underground bunker watching Alliance News Network reporter Diana Allers reporting on the resolution of the hostage crisis in London. According to the report, all terrorists involved in the crisis had been killed and none of the hostages were hurt. The palace had been severely damaged by the fire but workers commented that repairs would begin immediately. Allers then went on to say that the Council and the Alliance were both quoted saying that they wished to thank all the Alliance soldiers involved with the rescue and that their hearts went out to the friends and family of Lieutenant-Commander James Vega, the marine who perished in the fire.

The figure shut off the television and used an intercom on their desk and asked for someone to come into their office. A few minutes later, the door opened and an asari and a human male entered the office. Both of them were wearing full combat armor. The asari smiled when she saw the figure. The human seemed indifferent about being in the office.

"You wanted to see us Boss?" the asari asked.

"Yes," the figure replied, "I'm happy to say that phase three was a success. It's time for us to begin making preparations for the final phase."

"That is excellent news Boss. What do you need us to do?"

The figure reached into a drawer in their desk and pulled out a datapad.

"This is a list of our final targets and it assigns one of you two to each one."

The asari whistled when they read the list, "these are some pretty important targets Boss."

"They are the most important targets of the plan. All of our previous objectives have been building up to these. You know what to do."

The asari nodded and was about to turn to leave when the human grabbed her by the arm and stopped her. The asari looked at him and her smile faded. She looked at the human nervously and shook her head. The human ignored her and walked up to the figure's desk.

"We need to talk about one more thing Boss," he said.

"Oh?" the figure said feigning surprise.

"I understand that our salarian friend didn't survive the operation. Now I don't know about you but I'm beginning to see a pattern. Every operative that goes out on one of your operations doesn't seem to survive. I just want to know how I can be sure that it won't happen to me if I continue helping you with this plan of yours."

"I can't believe you would ask me that. After all some of the preparations we need to make for the final phase don't just help me but they also will help you with your own goals. I would think that would earn some trust towards me. Besides you know why each one of our friends died. Our batarian friend failed his operation, our turian friend sacrificed himself to ensure his operation succeeded and our salarian friend was about to be arrested. If you don't want to worry about ending up like them, all you have to do is ensure that you do your job and you do it right."

"With all due respect Boss, I don't find that very reassuring. I appreciate your help with my goals but I would prefer to repay you in a way that doesn't risk my life. Until you figure out some way for me to do that, my cooperation ends here."

The figure sat back in their chair tapping their fingertips together. They looked like they were contemplating the human's ultimatum. The human smiled thinking he had succeeded in making his point. He turned to the asari and gestured towards the door. The asari reluctantly made their way to the door with the human right behind her.

Just when the asari and human turned to leave, a blue glow began to emanate from the figure. The figure rose from their chair and raised one arm and pointed it towards the human. Suddenly the human began to glow blue and rose off the ground. The human, initially unsure of what was happening, began to panic and called for the asari to help him but the asari merely turned around so as not to see what happened next. The figure flicked their arm toward the wall and the human followed suit crashing into the wall hard enough that a small but noticeable impact crater appeared. The human fell to the floor groaning in pain.

The figure stepped away from their desk and walked over to where the human lay. They raised their arm again and this time slowly closed their hands like they were squeezing something. The human suddenly reached for their throat and began making choking sounds. The figure continued making the squeezing motion with their hand as they knelt down next to the human whose face was slowly turning blue due to lack of air.

"Let's get one thing straight," the figure growled, "I don't need you, you need me. I could easily choke the life out of you right now with my biotics. I could even rip you in half if I wanted to but I would prefer to keep you alive. But if you won't cooperate with me then I will gladly kill you and find someone who is more willing to help. Do I make myself clear Corporal?"

The human frantically nodded. The figure opened their hand and the human started breathing again. He took a few quick breaths which brought the color back in his face. Once he was breathing easier, he quickly got up from the ground and ran out the door. The asari bowed respectfully to the figure and followed the human out of the room.

The figure returned to their desk and pulled out a datapad that had an image labeled _Captain Shepard, Alliance Navy._ They stared at the image for a few seconds when a ringing sound came from their terminal. The figure pushed a button and saw that they had a new audio message. According to the identification signature, the message was from someone named Morrison. They clicked on it and were greeted by a female voice.

"It's me, if I didn't know any better I would say that you're ignoring your boss' calls. You do remember your boss right? Although considering the fact that you haven't come into work for the last few days I wouldn't be surprised if you don't. However your absences are not the main reason I'm calling. We've had another irregularity appear in our finances this week. This is the third one in the last few years. You're the chief financial officer so I'm blaming these irregularities on you. Now I can't keep letting these inconstancies slide. Find out where my credits are going. Otherwise I will have no choice but to let you go."

"Dammit," the figure said as they slammed a fist on the terminal's keyboard causing the message to close. A look at the recent message list showed that there were other messages that came from the company. They all were about the same thing. The one they had listened to was the third one that had come from Morrison herself. The figure rubbed their forehead as if to tend a headache. It was obvious that something was going to need to be done about Morrison sooner or later.

The figure decided that sooner would be better. The longer they waited, the greater the risk that there plans would be uncovered and thwarted. And there was no way the figure was going to allow that. Not when they were so close to success. The figure reached over and pushed a button on the intercom. The asari came back into the room shortly after.

"Yes Boss," she said.

"I need to add one more target to your list," the figure replied.

** END OF PART 3**


	30. 4-1

**PART 4 - Six Months Later**

The peaceful quiet of a lobby in an apartment building on the wards of the Citadel was interrupted when two figures, a redheaded human female and an asari, stumbled inside. As they stumbled, they were singing (or at least attempting to sing) some kind of party song. Every few lines the ladies would take a bottle of alcohol they had in their hands and take a sip. The ladies were practically dragging their feet as they headed for the elevators. Once they stepped on the elevator car, the ladies dropped their bottles and embraced each other in a passionate kiss. The patrons in the lobby shook their heads, some giggling while others let out a disapproving sigh, as they watched the ladies disappear behind the closing elevator doors.

As the elevator ascended, the two ladies continued to kiss until finally the asari broke the kiss for air, "tell me Dr. Chambers is it customary for a psychiatrist to take their patients out dancing and then take them home with them after a session?"

The human female chuckled, "come on Serena, we've been going out long enough that we can skip the formalities. Call me Kelly."

Serena smiled as she and Kelly resumed kissing just when the elevator made the dinging sound to indicate they had reached their floor. When the doors opened, the ladies broke their kiss again and stumbled down the hallway with each person putting an arm around the other's shoulder. They even resumed singing the song they were singing in the lobby. Fortunately for the other tenants living on the floor, the building's rooms were soundproof so nothing in the hallway could disturb anyone. Eventually the ladies reached Kelly's room and stepped inside.

Once inside the room, the ladies resumed kissing. Then Serena jumped up and wrapped her legs around Kelly's waist. Kelly held onto Serena's legs as she carried her to the bedroom. They got to the foot of the bed when Kelly turned so that she was facing away from the bed. She then fell back onto the bed with Serena now lying on top of her. After kissing for another few seconds, Kelly rolled Serena onto her back so now it was Kelly on top. When the next kiss was broken, Kelly rose up and began unbuttoning her shirt. Suddenly Serena reached up and grabbed Kelly's hand stopping her from continuing.

"What's wrong?" Kelly asked. "Things are just starting to get fun."

"I know it's just…," Serena began to say but couldn't continue.

"What is it?"

"Are you sure I'm ready for this?"

Kelly sighed. She knew where these doubts were coming from. She had taken in Serena as a patient five months ago. Serena said that she had come to the Citadel to get a fresh start after the loss of her bondmate Tabitha the month before that. Unfortunately it seemed that Serena was still in a state of severe depression over the loss. Eventually Serena decided to seek help for her depression and that was how she found her way to Kelly's office. With Kelly's counsel, Serena was making excellent progress.

About a month into their sessions, Kelly started to feel a romantic connection with Serena but she wasn't sure how to act on it. A part of her wasn't sure if it was real love or just her loving nature she had for all people regardless of what species or gender they were. But the real problem was it seemed wrong for her to try and pursue a relationship with Serena when she was still grieving over Tabitha. It took another month of bouncing the idea around in her head before she finally got the courage to drop a hint to Serena about her feelings. To her pleasant surprise, Serena admitted that she felt the same way. She just hadn't said anything because she was unsure if it was too soon for her to move on to another relationship. On that day the two ladies became a couple.

Over the next three months, the ladies were rarely apart. They would spend many days going to movies, having dinner at some of the best restaurants on the Citadel, and their personal favorite going to nightclubs and dancing together. More than a few times the couple's dancing was so elegant and spectacular that they would cause everyone else on the dance floor to stop and watch. Now after a night of such dancing, the ladies had decided to take their relationship to the next stage. But it seemed that Serena was having second thoughts.

Kelly climbed off of Serena and lied down on the open space of the bed next to her. She used one of her hand's to take one of Serena's and with her other hand gently stroked Serena's cheek.

"I'm not going to force you to do this if you don't think you're ready," Kelly said, "but I think you are. Tabitha would want you to be happy and I do too."

Serena smiled, "It means a lot to hear you say that. I think you're right. I'm ready. What would I do without you Kelly?"

"I don't want to think about it. You were in pretty bad shape when we first met."

"That is why I want to give you something. Something to say thank you for all you've done for me. I want to join my consciousness to yours."

Kelly was barely able to stop herself from gasping in surprise. She had heard about the asari mating process, or "melding" as it was called. Kelly knew that melding was a really intimate act between an asari and their mate. The fact that Serena was asking to meld with her was flattering. She began to think that this was a sign that she had indeed found "the one". Serena was the one that she would spend the rest of her life with.

"I don't know what to say," Kelly finally replied, "other than yes I would love to."

The smile on Serena's face grew larger as she proceeded to climb on top of Kelly and laid down on her, "just relax love. Take slow deep breaths."

"I love you Serena."

"I love you too Kelly. Embrace eternity."

As she said her last statement, Serena closed her eyes. When she opened them again, they had changed color to black. Immediately afterwards Kelly began to feel a strong feeling of euphoria overtake her, a feeling of which she had never felt before. She let out a pleasurable moan while Serena continued to stare at her with her completely dark eyes. Kelly smiled and brought Serena's head closer for another kiss. The kiss increased the amount of euphoria Kelly was feeling.

Suddenly a new feeling overtook Kelly that caused her to break away from the kiss. Unfortunately this one wasn't a pleasurable one. Her head felt like it was about to explode. She tried to say something to Serena but only a painful groan escaped her mouth. To her horror, the look on Serena's face after she heard the groan didn't show concern but enjoyment. Finally the pressure in Kelly's head proved too much for her to take. She let out one more groan and then she died.

Serena's eyes changed back to their normal color and she inspected Kelly's body to ensure that she was dead. After not detecting a pulse, she stepped off the bed and began to undress Kelly. This was done quickly since Kelly was already in the process of taking off her shirt before she died. Once Kelly was left wearing nothing except her underwear, Serena pulled the bed sheets back and out from under Kelly and then draped them over Kelly. Finally she closed Kelly's eyes. When Serena was done, all appearances looked like Kelly was sleeping peacefully when she died.

When nothing but quiet responded to everything that had happened, Serena was convinced that no one would find Kelly like this until morning. She then pulled up her omni-tool and placed a video call. When the call was answered, Serena was greeted by a silhouetted figure sitting behind a desk. The figure asked Serena for a report in a distorted voice.

"It's done Boss," Serena replied, "the first of our final targets has been taken care of."

"Excellent," said the figure, "that means the final phase has officially begun."

"Yes Boss. I'm kind of glad this part of the phase is done. I was getting tired of having to call myself Serena."

"Yes but the cover identity was necessary. You know what would have happened if Dr. Chambers knew who and what you really are. Before you go I arranged for a package to be left for you in the nightstand. Make sure you leave it somewhere it will be easily seen. I'm sending a shuttle to pick you up outside the lobby."

"Copy that Boss, out."

When the call ended, the asari Kelly knew as Serena went to the nightstand and pulled out a photo that was in one of the drawers. The photo was of a frigate with the word "NORMANDY" written on the hull. On top of the nightstand was a photo of her and Kelly they took together on one of their dates. She swapped the date photo with the frigate photo and put the date photo in her pocket and headed for the door. After giving one final look around the room to make sure that she hadn't left anything she wasn't supposed to, the asari poked her head out of the door that lead into the hallway. With no one in sight, she turned around and gave an air kiss to Kelly before laughing menacingly and walking out of the room.

* * *

The buzzing of an alarm clock woke Lieutenant Commander Ashley Shepard from her sleep. Still slightly groggy, she reached over and turned the alarm off. She rolled back over to her other side and her eyes were fully opened just in time to see her husband Captain Shepard still sleeping peacefully. She smiled all the while forcing herself to resist the temptation of waking him. Seeing him sleeping peacefully was a sight that she had rarely seen the last few months.

Ever since their last Spectre mission at Buckingham Palace six months ago, Ashley had noticed a subtle change in Shepard. Shepard had been forcing himself to work harder than ever to try and identify the financial backer who not only funded the terrorists they fought on that mission but two other missions they had been on. He was so committed to the cause that he was able to convince both the Alliance and the Citadel Council to give him some time off so he could fully commit to the investigation. Ashley knew part of Shepard's motivation for chasing the backer was because of the three friends they lost on the missions. She wanted to get justice for their friends too but she couldn't help but worry Shepard was pushing himself too hard.

When their investigation had gone two months with no new leads, the Alliance had decided it was time for them to call off the search and called them back to active service. It didn't stop Shepard from searching though as he would use whatever downtime he had to continue his investigation. Unfortunately this came at a cost as his only downtime was the time he was supposed to be using to sleep. Ashley was finally forced to step in when Shepard's secret investigation had gone on for a month and he was on the brink of exhaustion. She convinced him that if he kept pushing himself as hard as he was, he was going to be dead before he discovered the backer's identity. If Shepard wanted to bring the backer down he needed to keep himself rested so his mind would be cleared and focused. Shortly after their talk was over, Shepard got the first good night's sleep he had in a while.

The past three months saw Shepard and Ashley easing back into the somewhat normal routines they were used to. They would still resume their investigation whenever one of them was off duty but their main focus was commanding the Normandy. Even their sex life, which had been almost absent due to Shepard's intense investigation, had returned to normal. They didn't know if it was out of love or because they needed comfort over how rough the investigation had been but it didn't matter to them. Their time alone allowed them to completely forget everything and just be together, even if it was only temporary.

Now here they were after a night of love making in their apartment on the Citadel on shore leave. Ashley looked at the clock again and realized that she and Shepard had to get up. They had a lunch date in an hour and they were going to be late if they didn't get out of bed soon. So as much as it pained her to do it, she gently shook Shepard until his eyes slowly began to open.

"Good morning hero-man," she said.

"Good morning beautiful," Shepard replied still somewhat groggy, "I'm guessing it's time for us to get ready to leave."

"Just about, we still have just enough time to shower before we need to get dressed and leave."

"You go ahead and get the shower running. I'll join you in a second."

Ashley smiled and she and Shepard kissed before she got up from the bed and headed for the bathroom. Once inside she got the shower running and adjusted the temperature to a comfortable level. She proceeded to undress when she suddenly felt nauseous. She put a hand to her mouth and moved to the sink as she felt like she was going to throw up. To her relief nothing happened but she stayed close to the sink as she finished undressing just in case. Finally the nauseous feeling went away. This wasn't the first time Ashley had felt this way but it was the closest she felt to actually throwing up. She had contemplated telling Shepard but initially felt it wasn't worth mentioning. Now she wasn't so sure.

"You okay?"

Ashley turned to see her naked husband standing behind her looking slightly concerned. After some rapid thinking she decided that she wasn't going to tell Shepard anything just yet. She didn't want to worry Shepard over something that might actually be nothing at all. It was probably best if she waited until they got back to the Normandy and have the ship's doctor Dr. Karin Chakwas give her a physical examination. If there was something wrong with her, she knew Dr. Chakwas would figure it out.

"Yes," she finally replied, "I just thought I saw something on my face. The shower should be ready."

"Okay," Shepard said not entirely convinced but not wanting to push, "shall we."

Shepard held out his hand and Ashley took hold of it. He then led her into the shower.

* * *

The restaurant Shepard and Ashley had chosen for their lunch date was Apollo's Café on the Presidium. It had become a favorite of theirs ever since the date they had back during the Reaper War. It was on that day they officially rekindled their relationship after a brief separation due to events beyond their control. Now they were back once again for another date. However unlike their past dates, they weren't eating alone.

Waving them over to one of the tables were their best friends Garrus Vakarian and Tali'Zorah vas Normandy. Garrus and Tali had been friends of Shepard and Ashley ever since they first joined Shepard's crew to pursue rogue Spectre Saren Arterius. They would remain on Shepard's crew all the way to the end of the Reaper War making them two of the few that fought with Shepard throughout the whole Reaper conflict. After the Reaper War ended, Garrus and Tali both left the Normandy and now lived on the Citadel.

Despite the fact that all four of them lived on the Citadel, this was the first time in a while they were able to have a relaxing get together. Just as Shepard and Ashley were busy with Alliance and Spectre business, Garrus and Tali were busy with their own jobs. Garrus had returned to his old job with Citadel Security (C-SEC) and quickly earned a reputation as one of C-SEC's most successful detectives. Tali became an ambassador for the quarian people and also served as an advisor for the quarian councilor Zaal'Koris vas Qwib-Qwib.

After some friendly greetings, the group sat at their table and placed their orders. Once the waiter was gone Ashley was the first to speak.

"So are you two finally going to tell us why you were so desperate to get together?" she asked.

"It can't just simply be because we wanted to see you?" Tali replied with her unmasked face trying to appear innocent.

Ashley chuckled, "of course it could. It's just that you were so insistent that we had to see you before our shore leave ended. It was almost like this couldn't wait until the next time we came back. So come on, spill it."

Garrus and Tali looked at each other anxiously as they seemed to be debating whether or not to say something right then. Finally Garrus took Tali's hand and turned back to Shepard and Ashley who were both anxiously waiting for them to speak.

"We had something we really wanted to tell you in person," he said, "and we were afraid that if we didn't do it now, we wouldn't have the chance to do it before you heard it from someone else. Do you want to tell them, Tali?"

Tali nodded, smiling as she turned to Shepard and Ashley and spoke with a minor squeal in her voice, "we're going to be married!"

Shepard and Ashley's mouths both dropped in shock at the initial surprise of what they heard. When they finally snapped out of it, they stood up from their chairs and began cheering "congratulations" as they hugged Garrus and Tali. All the while Shepard was thinking about how Garrus and Tali's relationship started.

During the Reaper War, Shepard had noticed that Garrus and Tali occasionally flirted with each other. Sometimes they did it in the field but mostly Shepard would walk in on one of them at their station on the Normandy and overhear them flirting with the other over the ship's intercom. A strong feeling in his gut told him that something was starting to bloom between them. His suspicions were confirmed just before the final battle against the Reapers on Earth. Shepard walked in on the two of them kissing in the Normandy's gun battery. They both tried to explain it away but Shepard knew at that point that his two closest friends were in love with each other and offered congratulations to both of them. Tali still tried to explain it away saying it was merely a fling but Shepard didn't buy it. He was proven right after the war ended when he found out that Tali stayed on the Citadel with Garrus rather than return to the quarian homeworld Rannoch. The two of them had been dating ever since and now they were engaged.

"Congratulations you two," Shepard said once everyone was seated again, "Ashley and I couldn't be happier for you both."

"Well you and Ashley have been such an important part of our lives that Tali and I really wanted to tell you in person," said Garrus, "that's why we insisted on this get together. We also have some important requests we need to ask you."

"Ashley," said Tali, "would you be my matron of honor?"

Ashley smiled as a tear began to fall from her eyes, "Tali you have been like a sister to me. It would be my pleasure to be your matron of honor."

"Now let me guess Garrus," said Shepard, "you want me to be your best man."

"Actually Shepard I was going to have Joker do it," Garrus replied.

"What?" Shepard replied, his smile quickly disappearing.

Shepard didn't know whether Garrus was serious or not but he couldn't understand how he could be. He had Garrus be his best man when he and Ashley got married. Besides, the friendship the two of them had could practically be considered a bromance. How could Garrus pick Joker over him? True Joker was someone who probably knew how to give a bachelor party better than he could but still.

Garrus quickly sensing that Shepard was hurt and that Ashley was probably ready to slug him held up his hand in a "wait a minute" gesture, "the reason I'm not asking you Shepard is because Tali has a different role she wants you to fill."

Shepard's hurt expression quickly turned to confusion. On the one hand it was at least good to know Garrus considered him for best man. On the other hand he couldn't figure out what role Tali could have for him to fill. His confusion grew when he saw Tali beginning to tear up a little. Garrus put a hand on Tali's shoulder for comfort.

"As you know Shepard," she began, "both my mother and father are gone. I also recently found out that my auntie Raan is not going to be able to come to the wedding because she can't get time off from work to leave Rannoch and come to the Citadel."

Shepard understood what Tali meant. Tal's mother had passed away before she and Shepard met and her father was killed when an experiment he conducted on the geth went wrong. As for her "auntie Raan", she was referring to the former Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay. She and Tali both served on the quarian Admiralty Board during the Reaper War. But neither one of them were Admirals anymore.

Shortly after the end of the Reaper War and with the quarians back on their homeworld, martial law had been lifted and the Admiralty Board was dissolved due to Tali and Zaal'Koris taking positions on the Citadel and Admirals Han'Gerrel vas Neema and Daro'Xen vas Moreh facing criminal charges for some of their more questionable actions during the war. This left the Conclave as the sole government power. To make the adjustment from living on ships to their homeworld, it was decided that each ship would now serve as a district on Rannoch. The people in each district later unanimously elected their former captains to serve as representatives on the Conclave. To head this reformed government body, Shala'Raan was unanimously elected by the members of the Conclave to serve as chairwoman.

Shepard figured that it was because of Shala'Raan's important position in the quarian government that she couldn't make it to the wedding. He waited for Tali to continue.

"Shepard," she said, "you are the only one who can fill this role because I think of you the same way I think of my parents and auntie Raan, as family."

Tali paused and reached across the table to take Shepard's hand, "will you give the bride away?"

Shepard was initially speechless. Not just because of Tali's request but partially because he felt guilty. He was initially upset with Garrus for not asking him to be best man but now he realized it was because he and Tali had a bigger and more important role for him. He silently cursed at himself for his brief moment of selfishness. When he finished silently punishing himself, he looked up at Tali and smiled.

"I would be honored Tali," he said.

Shepard then got up from his chair again and gave Tali one more hug. Garrus and Ashley followed suit and the four of them were now in a group hug. They didn't even notice that the waiter had returned with their food. Sensing that it was better not to disturb them, the waiter placed the food on the table and silently walked away. The group eventually broke up the hug and returned to their seats. Tal, Garrus and Ashley were about to dig in when they noticed Shepard raising his drink.

"To Garrus and Tali," he said, "congratulations on your engagement and may you both have many happy years together."

Everyone else at the table raised their glasses and clanked them together with Shepard's to acknowledge the toast. When the toast was drunk, they began to dig into the food.

"CAPTAIN, CAPTAIN SHEPARD!"

Shepard had barely brought a forkful of food to his mouth when a voice called out to him from across the café. He and the others looked in the direction of the voice to see a woman approaching their table. When the woman got closer, Shepard recognized who it was. It was Dr. Chakwas. A feeling of dread overtook Shepard as he felt that Chakwas was not coming to give him good news. The looks on the others' faces showed they were thinking the same thing.

"Captain," Dr. Chakwas said when she finally reached the table, "you need to come with me right away. Commander Bailey wants to see us."

Shepard recognized the name immediately. He first met C-SEC Commander Armando-Owen Bailey back when Bailey was a captain during his first trip to the Citadel while on his mission against the Collectors. Bailey gave Shepard vital assistance on a few operations he had on the Citadel during that time. During the Reaper War, and after Bailey was promoted to Commander, Bailey would again help Shepard when the pro-human terrorist group Cerberus tried to kill the Council and take control of the Citadel. When the war was over, the Citadel and C-SEC were in disarray. Fortunately with Bailey's leadership and Garrus' assistance, they were able to get C-SEC running smoothly again and they quickly brought order back to the station. Bailey was even asked to become the new Executor of C-SEC but he declined preferring to leave the politics of the job to someone else. Shepard quickly glanced over to Garrus who only shook his head indicating he had no idea why Bailey would be summoning him.

"Why?" Shepard asked.

Dr. Chakwas looked at everyone at the table as if she was trying to decide whether or not she should talk with Shepard in front of them. Shepard picked up on this hesitation and offered to go with Chakwas somewhere private but she finally shook her head and told him to sit back down.

"It's okay Captain," she continued, "it's probably best that the others hear this too. Captain…..Kelly Chambers was found dead this morning."


	31. 4-2

"That damn elevator music," Shepard thought as he silently rode the elevator up to Kelly's apartment with Dr. Chakwas.

The cheerful music that was playing over the elevator's speaker was not enough to cheer Shepard up. The bombshell that Chakwas had dropped at the café about Kelly's death had stunned everyone to silence. When Chakwas didn't get a response from anyone she continued to explain that a call came through to the Normandy from Commander Bailey. He called because he was looking for Shepard since Kelly had Shepard listed as her emergency contact. Aside from delivering the bad news and asking for Shepard to report to the scene, Bailey also asked for Chakwas to come as well. While the medical examiners were ruling Kelly's death as natural causes from a brain hemorrhage, something in Bailey's gut was telling him there was more to it and he wanted Chakwas to come and give a second opinion. Chakwas agreed and said she would pick up Shepard on her way.

When Chakwas finished recapping the events leading up to her meeting Shepard and the others at the café, Shepard apologized to Ashley, Garrus and Tali for having to cut their get together short. Before leaving with Chakwas, Ashley and Garrus asked Shepard if they could come as well. Tali couldn't volunteer to come since she was due back at the quarian embassy. Shepard understood that Ashley and Garrus wanted to help but he politely declined. He didn't want them to come if it turned out no help was needed. Besides he figured between him, Chakwas and Bailey, they would have more than enough people to piece together what happened to Kelly. Despite wanting to object, Ashley and Garrus understood Shepard's reasoning and Garrus said he would go back to C-SEC and Ashley said that she would wait for Shepard at their apartment for news. Shepard then said his farewells, including a quick kiss with Ashley, and followed Chakwas to a waiting taxicab.

After what felt like an extremely long elevator ride, Shepard and Chakwas stepped off the elevator and were instantly greeted by Commander Bailey.

"Shepard, Dr. Chakwas," he said, "thanks for coming."

"No problem Bailey," Shepard said while shaking Bailey's hand, "good to see you again."

"You too, though I wish it were under better circumstances. I'm really sorry for the loss of your friend."

"Thank you. Dr. Chakwas said that you called us here because you thought there was something suspicious about how Kelly died?"

Bailey didn't say anything to respond but did gesture for Shepard and Chakwas to follow him. He led them down the hall and into Kelly's room. The first thing Shepard noticed was a stretcher stationed by the bed with a large bag lying on it. The bag was open just enough that Shepard could see Kelly's face. Shepard found it hard to hold back the tears as he gazed on the face of his friend.

Shepard thought back to when he first met Kelly when she was the Normandy's yeoman for the Collector mission. The first thing Shepard thought when he saw her was how the loving, caring redhead could work for a sinister organization like Cerberus. Kelly tried to explain to Shepard that Cerberus was not as bad as he believed saying they had noble goals. Shepard knew better from his prior encounters with Cerberus but felt that maybe Kelly genuinely believed what she was saying because she hadn't seen the same things Shepard had. As the mission went on, Shepard and Kelly became good friends. Shepard had even invited Kelly up to his cabin for a meal. Despite some scuttlebutt on the ship saying that the meal was a date, Shepard and Kelly both knew that it was just two friends having a meal together and getting to know each other better.

When the Collector mission was completed, Kelly had become fully aware of how evil Cerberus was and left the organization. She eventually found herself on the Citadel where she began using her knowledge of psychology to help comfort the refugees during the Reaper War. Fearing that Cerberus might track her down and kill her, Shepard insisted that Kelly change her identity and appearance. Kelly was reluctant but agreed to do it. She dyed her hair blond and created the identity Felicia Hannigan for herself. Shepard's advice later paid off and Kelly was able to avoid detection by Cerberus during their attempted coup. When the Reaper War was over and with Cerberus dissolved, Kelly was able to take her real identity back and opened her own psychiatric office on the Citadel. When Shepard last saw Kelly at his and Ashley's wedding, she told him that she felt that she had found the perfect life for herself doing what she loved.

Now Kelly's life had come to a sudden and tragic end and it was up to Shepard to figure out why. Apart from Kelly's body, the only other people in the room were two people from the medical examiner's office, a salarian and a turian. They seemed a bit impatient like they had been waiting a while and didn't want to be in the apartment anymore. The fact that it was only two other people in the room raised a small red flag in Shepard's head since he figured there should have been some crime scene techs or other C-SEC personnel if Bailey thought Kelly's death was suspicious. Baily seemed to pick up Shepard's concern and explained that it was only him who had doubts. The medical examiners were convinced that there was nothing suspicious about Kelly's death and wanted to get the body to the morgue. Without any solid proof that Kelly's death was suspicious, Bailey couldn't commit any other officers to the case. In fact the only reason Kelly's body wasn't already at the morgue was because Bailey had to pull a lot of favors to ensure it stayed in the apartment until Shepard and Chakwas arrived.

Bailey began explaining the facts to Shepard while Dr. Chakwas began examining the body with her omni-tool, "the building's superintendent found the body this morning. He had gotten a call from Dr. Chambers' secretary saying that the doctor had not shown up for work and had not called in to say she was running late so he agreed to check the room. Dr. Chambers was on the bed under the covers so the super thought she was asleep. It was only when he tried to wake her that he realized she was dead. He called it in and when I found out that you were listed as her emergency contact, I decided to take this case myself."

"Since then he's been making our job more difficult than it needs to be," said the salarian M.E., "the cause of death was a brain hemorrhage that Dr. Chambers apparently suffered while she slept. We didn't find any indication that it was caused by anything unnatural. There is absolutely nothing to indicate that there was foul play but the commander wouldn't let us take the body to the morgue."

"He said he wanted us to wait until your medic had a chance to examine the body," growled the turian M.E., "I fail to see how a doctor whose job is to patch up living soldiers could possibly know anything about examining the dead."

Shepard angrily glared at the turian M.E., "if you don't have something factual to say to me doctor then I would rather you don't say anything at all."

The turian held up his hands in surrender while Shepard turned his attention back to Bailey, "why do you think Kelly's death is suspicious Bailey?"

Bailey gestured to the bed, "a couple of reasons. First there are these dents in the bed. There is one on each side of the mattress. Based on the shape of the dents I would say that there were two people sleeping in this bed last night."

"Or the doctor slept on both sides of the bed," said the turian M.E.

Shepard shook his head, "no Bailey's right. It's barely noticeable but one of the dents has a slightly different shape than the other. It's been a while since I've heard from Kelly so I don't know if she was seeing anyone. Did any of the other tenants have anything to say about that?"

"According to the tenants I've interviewed so far, it does seem that Kelly was in a serious relationship for a couple of months with one of her patients, an asari named Serena. The tenants also said Kelly did come home last night with Serena. It was hard for them not to notice the ladies enter because they entered the lobby drinking and singing loudly."

"So let's assume that Kelly and Serena were sleeping together last night. She would've been lying next to Kelly when she died. But that would mean she should have been the first one to find her dead. Yet no call came in to report Kelly's death until after the superintendent found her. There's no way Serena wouldn't have noticed Kelly was dead when she woke up so why didn't she call for help."

"That's what bothers me too," Bailey replied, "if this death was natural, she shouldn't have been worried about calling for help. By fleeing the scene all she's doing is casting suspicion on herself. I have assigned some of my people to track her down."

"But Commander," the salarian M.E. said, "it doesn't matter if there was someone else here. We already said that the hemorrhage was not caused by anything unnatural."

Shepard held up his hand to silence the doctor, "you said there were a couple of things that were suspicious. What's the other thing?"

"This one isn't so much suspicious as it is disturbing," Bailey replied, "Dr. Chakwas have you finished examining the body."

Chakwas nodded as she closed her omni-tool, "I have run every scan I could think of and everything the other doctors say seems to be correct. The only odd thing I did pick up is there seem to be fingerprints on Kelly's eyelids. Did you close them Bailey?"

"I did," the turian M.E. replied, "it was the decent thing to do. Except for some reason the Commander tried to tell me not to do it."

"When I first saw her," Bailey said, "her eyes were open and what I saw nearly gave me a heart attack. There was something spooky about them. You can open her eyes and see for yourself. Although I strongly suggest that you brace yourself as best as you can before you do."

Slightly confused by the warning, Chakwas put on some gloves so as not to add any addition fingerprints to the body. Then she slowly opened Kelly's eyes. She barely looked into Kelly's eyes for a second when her face turned white as a sheet. It made Shepard think that Chakwas had seen a ghost. He was barely able to rush over and catch her when it looked like she was going to faint. It was then that he too saw what was wrong with Kelly's eyes.

When Shepard first saw Kelly's face, it looked peaceful with her eyes closed. Now that her eyes were open it told an entirely different story. With her eyes open, Kelly's face now conveyed terror. That indicated to Shepard that maybe Kelly's death wasn't as peaceful as the M.E.s seemed to believe. But the thing that bothered him the most was how her eyes seemed almost empty. There's a saying that the eyes are the windows to a person's soul. It could be argued that Kelly's eyes only appeared empty because her soul was gone but this was a whole other level of emptiness.

"I told you there was something wrong with them," said Bailey.

Shepard didn't hear Bailey as he was trying to put the pieces together in his head. Kelly was dating an asari. She also had a disturbingly empty look in her eyes. On their own those two elements didn't seem like much. But then Shepard threw in one piece of his own. It was something that was mentioned to him by Aria T'Loak, the pirate queen of Omega. _"Nothing leaves a body quite so….empty as an…."_

_Oh no!_

"Doctors we are done with the body," Shepard said trying hard to hide the terror his realization was causing him, "you can take it to morgue now."

The M.E.s didn't need to be told twice as they walked over to the stretcher, zipped up the body bag and took Kelly's body out of the apartment. Bailey and Chakwas both looked at Shepard surprised. Bailey even tried to tell the M.E.s to wait but Shepard held up his hand to stop him before he had the chance to say anything. Once the M.E.s and Kelly's body were gone, Shepard closed the door and turned his attention back to Bailey and Chakwas.

"We have a serious problem Bailey," he said, "I'm convinced beyond a doubt that Kelly was indeed murdered….by an Ardat-Yakshi."

Chakwas gasped. She knew what Shepard was talking about. Due to Shepard having previously encountered Ardat-Yakshi twice during the time she had been on his crew, she had heard about how dangerous they were. Bailey looked confused for he had never had encounters with Ardat-Yakshi nor had he heard about them.

"What's that?" he asked.

Shepard explained to Bailey that Ardat-Yakshi were asari that had a rare genetic disorder that cause them to kill their bondmates during the melding process. Instead of a gentle merging of the nervous systems, when Ardat-Yakshi meld, they over power the nervous system of their mate. This leads to a hemorrhaging in the victim's brain leaving the victim as practically empty shells before they die. Worse yet, every time an Ardat-Yakshi mates, they become stronger, smarter and deadlier. Since Ardat-Yakshi feel compelled to mate because of their condition, the increase in power only makes the compulsion stronger. In short, an asari with the condition has the potential of becoming a sex craving mass murderer. The look on Bailey's face as Shepard finished told him that Bailey was now convinced of how serious the situation was.

Despite now knowing what had happened, Shepard had to admit he was surprised that an Ardat-Yakshi could even be responsible. During the Reaper War, the Reapers turned Ardat-Yakshi into powerful Reaper creatures called Banshees. This lead to the Reapers invading a monastery that served as a sanctuary for Ardat-Yakshi who were willing to live in isolation so as to avoid the temptation of giving in to their condition. As far as Shepard knew there was only one Ardat-Yakshi who survived the war and everything he knew about her indicated that she would never choose to become a killer. He would have to make a call to be sure but he strongly felt he was right. Unfortunately all that meant was that there was another Ardat-Yakshi out there and he had no idea who it was.

"So what do we do?" Bailey asked.

"We need to pick up the Ardat-Yakshi's trail somehow," Shepard replied, "unfortunately I can't think of how we could. Odds are that Serena is not even her real name so there's no point in running that through the databases."

"Yeah and it doesn't look like there are any pictures of Kelly with her so we don't have a physical description to go off. We could try asking the tenants if anyone could remember what she looked like but even they did, asari generally don't look that different from each other. Trying to find one particular asari on this station would be like finding a needle in a haystack."

Shepard was about to nod in agreement when something he saw in the corner of his eye got his attention. Sitting on top of the nightstand next to the bed was a picture of a ship he would know anywhere. It was the Normandy. However it wasn't the picture that got his attention. Rather it was the dust surrounding it. It was obvious the nightstand had not been dusted recently but for some reason the picture of the Normandy was too small to cover the impression of a picture frame in the dust. The impression told him that a slightly bigger picture frame used to be in that spot until someone swapped it with the Normandy picture not too long ago.

Walking carefully towards the nightstand, Shepard looked over the picture frame carefully to ensure it was not attached to any kind of trap. Convinced that nothing seemed to be an immediate threat, he picked up the picture. Suddenly the picture of the Normandy disappeared and a screen showing a thumbprint being scanned took its place. After a few seconds the thumbprint vanished and the screen read "I.D. Confirmed: Captain Shepard." Finally the screen displayed a picture of a silhouetted figure behind a desk with a button that read "play video" at the bottom. Feeling that he had no other choice, Shepard pushed the play button.

"Hello Shepard," the figure in the video said with a distorted voice, "forgive me if I don't introduce myself. My identity will come in due time. For now let's just say I'm the one that you have been trying to find for almost two years now. I'm the one who helped fund Balak, Dalatrass Linron and Finch's little schemes."

Shepard looked to Chakwas as the both shared a look of surprise. This was the first time that backer they and the rest of the Normandy crew had been hunting was reaching out them. Unfortunately for Shepard between the backer being a silhouette and the voice being distorted, there was no way for Shepard to determine their identity. He also felt some anger begin to grow inside him. The backer had called the plots he had foiled "little" schemes. "Little" was hardly what he would call an assassination attempt, a plot to detonate a chemical weapon on Tuchanka and a hostage crisis. He wanted to tell the backer that but since this wasn't a two-way conversation, he could only listen as the backer continued.

"If you are watching this video then you have discovered what happened to your friend Dr. Chambers. I must say that I wish I didn't have to have my asari friend kill her but I had to get your attention somehow. You see, I decided it's time for me to talk to you about those schemes I invested in. As I'm sure you have figured out by now, those schemes were merely parts of a much larger operation that I have been running simultaneously with them. Each one had their role to play in the grander plan and despite the fact you managed to foil one of them, I am ready to launch the final phase of the operation."

If the backer had been talking live to Shepard, they would have seen that Shepard had a look of confusion on his face. The backer's last statement didn't make sense to him. He had stopped all three schemes. Yet the backer said he had only foiled one. The backer continued speaking before Shepard could think about the matter further.

"Now I could just allow the operation to continue but I'm a fair individual. I'm willing to give you a chance to stop it. Aside from this video, the picture frame you are holding has a file stored on it that you may find interesting. The file should give you all the info you need to figure out where I'm going to strike next. Oh and in case you have someone from C-Sec watching this with you, let them know that my asari friend is no longer on the Citadel and they don't need to worry about any more bodies turning up there because of her. The ball is in your court now Shepard. Good luck, you'll need it."

With that last statement, the video disappeared and a file icon appeared in its place. Shepard didn't push it right away though. All he could think about was the fact that the backer was practically taunting him. "Catch me if you can" was the overall purpose of the message, not to help Shepard. It was almost as if the backer was treating this as some kind of game. That just made Shepard even angrier. A good friend of his was murdered to start the backer's game and if it was the last thing he did, Shepard was going to make the backer regret starting it.

"Well Captain?" Chakwas asked.

"I'm afraid your job is done Bailey," Shepard replied, "your killer is gone and likely somewhere beyond your jurisdiction."

"That's what it sounded like," said Bailey, "I guess it's a good thing I have a friend who is a Spectre and is not limited by jurisdictional conflicts. Promise me that you will catch the killer while you are out looking for her employer."

"That's what I'm planning to do. Thanks for calling us here Bailey but before we go I wonder if you could do something for me?"

"Name it."

"Will you see to it that Kelly receives a proper service?"

A small smile appeared on Bailey's face as he nodded to confirm that he would see to Shepard's request. He then shook Shepard's hand before he proceeded to walk out of the apartment. Before leaving, Shepard took a minute to take one last look around the apartment regretting that he never had the chance to visit Kelly in her apartment while she was alive. After he finished, he and Chakwas left the apartment as well.

"I'm going to call the Normandy and tell them to prepare for departure," he said, "from what the backer said we know their next move won't happen here on the Citadel so we need to leave here as soon as possible. Meanwhile I want you to call Williams and tell her to meet us there."

"Aye-aye Captain," Chakwas replied as she pulled up her omni-tool to place the call.


	32. 4-3

The sight of ships passing by docking bay D24 was something that always used to relax Shepard. He could trace it back to when he invited his shuttle pilot Lt. Steve Cortez to watch ships fly by as a means to help him deal with the loss of his husband during a Collector attack. Unfortunately this time Shepard wasn't feeling relaxed. He had just gotten his first serious lead to locate the mystery backer and he needed to get going. The only thing that was keeping him from leaving was the fact that Ashley hadn't arrived yet. He couldn't understand why she would be late. Their apartment was closer to the docking bay than Kelly's was so she should have been at the docking bay waiting for him and Chakwas when they arrived. While Chakwas went on board the Normandy, Shepard remained in the waiting area. The only time he wasn't watching the elevator for Ashley was when he checked his omni-tool for the time.

Shepard was about to use his omni-tool to call Ashley when the sound of elevator doors opening forced him to look up. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that it was Ashley who was on the other side of the doors. It was also then that Shepard saw why Ashley took so long getting to the docking bay. Stepping off the elevator with her was a familiar turian and quarian. The turian was carrying a large bag over his shoulder.

"Garrus, Tali," he said pleasantly surprised, "what are you two doing here?"

"Bailey called me at C-SEC HQ," said Garrus, "He said that officially Kelly's case is closed and her death is going to be ruled as natural. But he felt that since Kelly was my friend I deserved to know the truth. As soon as I heard that the mystery backer was involved with this and that you were going after them, I called Ashley and asked her to pick me and Tali up on her way here."

A sly smiled appeared on Shepard's face as he crossed his arms, "I take it then that you want to come with us?"

"You bet. I know this backer has been a pain in your side for a while now and I've always felt bad that I wasn't able to help you with your search before. Well I'm ready to help now. So do I have permission to come aboard Captain Shepard?"

"You didn't quit C-SEC again so that you could come did you?"

"No. Not this time. I asked for permission to take some time off to help you two. Initially they refused. Fortunately by that point Ashley showed up and when she heard they wouldn't let me come she pulled the Spectre card."

Ashley smiled, "I told his superiors that Garrus' skills were needed for an important Spectre mission and that he was coming with me whether they liked it or not. I took their silence to mean that they weren't going to argue."

Shepard chuckled, "a man would have to have a death wish to say no to you Ash. Well if everything is settled then permission granted. Welcome aboard Garrus."

Garrus smiled and shook Shepard's hand.

"What about you Tali?" Shepard asked. "Are you coming as well?"

"I wish I could," Tali said sadly, "but I'm needed at the embassy. But there is no way that I'm going to miss seeing my fiancé off."

"I understand," Shepard said, "Well the rest of the crew is aboard and we should probably get going. Ash and I will leave you two alone to say goodbye. Congrats again to both of you on the engagement. See you on board Garrus."

With that, Shepard offered his arm to Ashley who happily took it and the two of them proceeded to board the Normandy. Once they were out of sight, Garrus turned to face Tali and took her hands. The two of them just looked at each other unsure of what to say. After a few seconds of silence, they embraced.

"Be safe out there Garrus," Tali whispered as they broke their hug but still kept their hands joined, "there's no telling what you and the others are going to be up against out there."

"When did that ever stop us before?" Garrus replied in an attempt to lighten the mood.

He realized it wasn't working when Tali bowed her head and a tear appeared in her eye. He gently placed a hand on her chin and lifted her head back up so that their eyes locked again.

"I'll be fine. If there's anyone you can trust with my life, it's Shepard and Ashley."

The encouraging words got Tali to make a small smile. Seeing Tali smile was always a beautiful sight for anyone who was not used to seeing her without her mask. Even for Garrus who had seen Tali's unmasked face more than anyone, the sight of her smile was always a beautiful thing.

"Do you have any idea how much I want to kiss you right now?" said Garrus.

"Probably as much as I want to kiss you, but we promised we'd wait until the wedding."

Unfortunately for Garrus and Tali, quarians had weakened immune systems as a result of their living on clean ships during the three hundred years they were exiled from their homeworld by the geth. They were so bad that, as Tali once mentioned to Shepard, a single kiss had the potential to put her in the hospital. If quarians wanted to show intimacy with each other, the best they could do was link their suit environments. Sadly because Garrus was a turian, Tali couldn't even do that. Even the one time they tried to be intimate with each other in the Normandy's main battery, before being interrupted by Shepard, was still somewhat awkward as they couldn't kiss because of Tali's mask. Garrus had repeatedly tried to explain to Tali that she didn't need to prove her love to him physically because he already knew how much she loved him. Even so the romantic in Tali wished that they could share a kiss and that she could feel the warmth of Garrus' body against her own.

Thanks to the improvements the geth had made before being destroyed by the crucible, the quarians' immune systems had gotten significantly stronger. In the more than two years since the end of the Reaper War, quarians could go longer periods without masks and were close to being able to go without their suits altogether. Shortly after Garrus had proposed to Tali but before the lunch date with Shepard and Ashley, Tal had heard from her doctor that her immune system was now strong enough that she could kiss Garrus with no health risks to herself. Garrus wanted to kiss her right then and there to celebrate but Tali stopped him. Ever the romantic, she suggested they wait until they were married. That way, their first kiss as husband and wife would be more special since it would be their first kiss ever. Garrus was initially sad about waiting but then he smiled and said "well we've waited this long so I guess we can wait a little longer."

But now that Garrus was getting ready to leave with Shepard and Ashley, it was really hard for him to want to keep that promise.

"You're right. Well, that's just another reason for me to come back to you alive. I love you Tali."

"I love you too Garrus."

With no more words to say, Garrus began to step away from Tali. Their hands began to break away the further Garrus stepped back. When they finally broke away, Garrus picked up his bag and entered the docking tube to board the Normandy. He stopped when he was about halfway in the tube and turned around to get one last look at Tali. What he saw made his smile grow bigger. Tali was blowing him kiss. He pretended to catch it and blew one to her as well. "That'll do" he thought. He then gave her one final wave and turned to board the Normandy.

* * *

Inside the comm. room on the Normandy's combat deck, Shepard was patiently waiting for a call he patched to go through. Once he and Ashley boarded, he asked Ashley to give Garrus a quick tour of the ship while he went to the comm. room to make one private call before the three of them would meet in the war room to go over the files the mystery backer left him. While Garrus had served on the Normandy in the past, it was best that he get reacquainted with the crew and meet the few new faces that had joined since the end of the Reaper War. Besides, Shepard knew that Garrus was going to want see the main battery again. The amount of time he spent calibrating it when he was on the crew practically made it his baby. Shepard couldn't help but smile as he thought about the hard time Ashley was going to have when she had to eventually drag him away from it.

Suddenly Shepard heard a chime that indicated that his call had been answered and the holographic image of his friend Samara appeared. Samara was a member of an order of asari peacekeepers called justicars. Shepard first met her when he recruited her for his mission against the Collectors. It was during that time he learned that she had three daughters who were Ardat-Yakshi. In fact it was on that mission that Shepard found himself in the unfortunate position of having to help Samara kill her oldest daughter Morinth who had chosen not to live in isolation and had been killing people for four centuries. He knew that it needed to be done but it was still hard for him to watch his friend having to do something that no mother should ever have to.

He didn't cross paths with Samara again until during the Reaper War when he was asked by Asari Command to investigate a distress signal coming from what he eventually found out was the Ardat-Yakshi monastery. A short while into the mission, Shepard walked into a room to see Samara battling Reaper soldiers. Samara explained that she came to find her other daughters Falere and Rila. With Shepard's help, she was able to find them but they discovered that Rila was already in the process of turning into a banshee. Knowing there was nothing they could do for her, Shepard and his squad fled the monastery with Samara and Falere while Rilaa stayed behind to detonate a bomb that destroyed the monastery and all the remaining Reaper creatures inside.

Since the war had ended, Falere began rebuilding the monastery with Samara dropping by from time to time to help. To Shepard's knowledge, Falere was still the only Ardat-Yakshi in existence. This was why he found himself having to make the uncomfortable call to Samara.

"Shepard," Samara greeted with smile, "this is a pleasant surprise. How are you and Ashley doing?"

"We're fine thank you," Shepard replied, "but unfortunately I'm not calling for a personal chat. To be honest I wish I didn't have to make this call at all."

Samara's smile disappeared, "what's wrong?"

Shepard sighed before he spoke again, "Kelly's dead. She was murdered by an Ardat-Yakshi."

"What?" Samara gasped. "Are you sure?"

"I'm afraid so. Samara….I hope you understand that I need to be thorough….I wish I didn't have to ask you this…but…"

"You want to know if Falere is still at the monastery."

"Yes, I'm sorry Samara."

"It's okay Shepard. You don't have to apologize. Your caution is understandable. Falere is still at the monastery. Last time I saw her, she and the other students were doing fine."

"So I guess Falere isn't the only Ardat-Yakshi left anymore?"

"I'm afraid so. As long as there are still asari who mate with other asari, there will always be a risk of more Ardat-Yakshi being born. There are three other students at the monastery now. I've met each one of them during my visits and I can vouch for them. There's no way any of them could have killed Kelly."

"Well I'm relieved to hear that Samara but unfortunately that means our killer is an Ardat-Yakshi that is unaccounted for. As far as you know, have there been any newly discovered Ardat-Yakshi that didn't choose isolation?"

"There usually are a few but they get put to death if they refuse isolation. It's hard to imagine how one could have avoided that. Let me make a few calls to Asari Command. They would never admit to any none asari if an Ardat-Yakshi escaped but they will surely talk to me. If I find anything that can help you, I'll let you know. Farewell Shepard and I'm sorry about Kelly. I know you two were close friends."

"Thank you Samara, Shepard out."

When Samara's image vanished, Shepard leaned against the railing that separated him from where Samara's image had been. He pondered over what they had talked about. It was an enormous relief to know that Falere had nothing to do with Kelly's death. On the other hand though it meant that Kelly's killer still didn't have a face or a name for him go off of and unless Samara found something it was going to be near impossible to figure out the killer's identity. All Shepard could think of was that it would be so much easier if the asari would just let the rest of the galaxy know that Ardat-Yakshi's existed. Then at least Shepard could have access to records of all Ardat-Yakshi who were on the loose.

Deciding it was best not to dwell on the asari's habit of keeping important secrets from the rest of the galaxy, Shepard turned on the intercom and told Ashley and Garrus to begin making their way to the war room so they could go over the intel. While he waited for them to arrive, he began placing another call. If intel was going to be the subject of the meeting then there was one person he had to have involved in the meeting. It barely took a few seconds before his call was answered and Shepard now found himself greeted by the holographic image of his friend Liara T'Soni.

"Shepard," she said, "I assume you are calling about Kelly."

Of course she already knows, Shepard thought. Considering the fact that Liara was the Shadow Broker, it was hard to keep anything secret from her. Shepard figured Liara probably had agents in C-SEC and they told her as soon as the call came in about Kelly. Shepard proceeded to bring her up to speed on what he and Bailey found out at Kelly's apartment. When he had finished, Shepard didn't know which part surprised Liara the most, the fact that Kelly was murdered or the fact that it was an Ardat-Yakshi who killed her. The surprise on her face quickly turned to tension when Shepard brought up that the mystery backer was involved. It was understandable though. The mystery backer seemed to be the only person that she could not find out anything about despite her Shadow Broker resources. She told Shepard that she was at his disposal.

It was at that point that Ashley and Garrus peaked into the comm. room to let Shepard know they were ready in the war room. After exchanging quick greetings with Liara and after Shepard transferred Liara's call to the war room, the trio gathered around the holographic table in the middle of the room and Shepard pulled out the picture frame he found in Kelly's apartment. He filled everybody in about the video message that the backer had left him on the frame. Everyone showed a similar look of anger to the one Shepard did when he first heard the message. No doubt it was for the same reason too. The group unanimously agreed with Shepard's theory that the message was a taunt against him. Shepard proceeded to sync the frame with the holographic table so that the contents could be projected for Ashley and Garrus to see. He also set it up so that Liara could watch everything they did with the frame in real time from where she was. When the sync was complete, Shepard tapped the file icon and the files were displayed on the table's holographic surface.

The first file that got Shepard's attention was labeled "Alliance News Articles". Shepard clicked on that icon first. He figured that maybe the articles would give him a hint as to what the backer's next target would be. After glancing at the headlines, Shepard was able to notice a pattern. All the articles were covering Alliance research on biotics. Specifically they were covering the controversial initiative to find a "cure" for biotics.

Shepard had heard about the research a few months ago when it started. For the most part, the prejudice humans had against biotics had decreased thanks to the heroic efforts of biotic soldiers during the Reaper War. Despite that, there were several small factions that felt that since biotic abilities in humans were not natural occurrences, then it was a violation of the natural order for humans to have them. So the Alliance decided to look into ways for people who did not wish to have biotic abilities to be able to remove the eezo nodules in a person's nervous system that allow them to generate mass effect fields. From the most recent article, it sounded like the Alliance was close to developing a working procedure though the specifics of what the procedure was and how it worked were still classified.

Once everyone had the chance to look through the articles as much as they wanted, Shepard opened a new file. This one had the file name "Blueprints". As the name suggested, there were several blueprints inside. At first glance it appeared that each blueprint was for an individual floor of a particular structure. While the name of the structure wasn't listed on any of the blueprints, the notes about the rooms and the "A" shaped logo in the upper right corner of each blueprint gave an idea of what kind of structure it was.

"This is an Alliance research lab!" Ashley exclaimed. "But these types of plans are usually highly classified. How could the backer have gotten their hands on it?"

"She's not kidding Shepard," said Liara's voice over the intercom, "even with all my resources I've never been able to get access to these types of plans. I can't believe I'm saying this but whoever this backer is, they've got access that rivals even mine."

"Who is this person?" Shepard thought.

Shepard had already known that the mystery backer was a powerful and influential person. They would have to be in order to fund the three plots he had stopped previously. Besides that, the salarian who called himself Avot Yuless from the Buckingham Palace hostage crisis tried to scare Shepard by talking about how powerful his employer was before he died. Now Shepard had learned that the backer not only had access to confidential Alliance documents but documents that even Liara, the best information broker in the galaxy couldn't access. Shepard couldn't help but wonder if this person could even rival his former foe the Illusive Man.

"You know what I think," Garrus said taking Shepard out of his train of thought, "I bet the backer is going to fund a raid on the facility to steal the biotic cure for another one of their clients. Based on everything we've seen in the files it seems like that would be the logical conclusion."

"No," said Shepard, "the backer is not doing this for a client. They said in the message that everything their doing now is part of the final phase of their own master plan that they've been running parallel to the other plots. So if they aren't stealing the cure for someone else, it would have to be for them. But why would they steal it in the first place and how does it connect to everything else they've done?"

"If I had to guess," said Liara, "depending on how the cure works, there are a few ways it could be used in a threatening way."

"Liara's right," Ashley joined in, "biotics can give any fighting unit an edge. If the backer takes them away, and if they have biotic troops of their own, they could take on anyone."

Shepard shook his head, "but nothing the backer has done up to this point indicates their goal is to launch any kind of assault or invasion. This is about something else."

"Like what?" Ashley asked.

"I don't know. Unfortunately I don't think we have anything to speculate the matter any further. It doesn't matter though because the point of the backer giving us these hints was not to tell us their target or motives. All they want us to know is where they are going to strike next. We know from the blueprints that it's an Alliance facility. Based on the articles we can assume that it is whichever one is doing the research on the biotic cure."

"Makes sense but how do we figure out which facility it is?" Garrus asked. "Nothing in the files tells us the location or how the backer was able to find it."

"Leave that part to me," Shepard replied, "all I need to do is make one quick call to Councilor Hackett and I'm sure he can get us the location in less than half an hour. Are there any final questions?"

"Shepard," said Liara, "I want to come with you."

The request surprised Shepard. He knew that Liara was a strong combatant but since the end of the Reaper War she hadn't seen any action. You practically had to drag Liara away from her office where she ran her operations. Shepard couldn't even remember the last time she had expressed interest in joining him on missions.

"Why?" Shepard asked.

"The mystery backer has been frustrating me ever since we found out they existed. For the past two years I've been trying to help you find them with no success. I'm supposed to be able to get you any information, anytime you need it but this person has been able to evade every attempt I've made to locate them. Now we finally have a solid lead to pursue and if you're going after the backer, I want to be there when you catch them."

"All right, we'll take all the help we can get. Where are you right now?"

"Closer than you think. Once I get Feron situated to watch over things while I'm gone, I'll take a shuttle to meet you in the Serpent Nebula."

Shepard couldn't help but laugh. Liara had a habit of being cryptic sometimes so it didn't surprise him that she didn't tell him where she was coming from. Still he was glad that she could join them. After confirming the meet, Shepard ended the call with Liara and dismissed Ashley and Garrus so that he could make his call to Councilor Hackett. He wanted to talk to him as soon as possible so that Hackett would be able to find the location before Liara arrived. Time was of the essence and the minute Liara was on board the Normandy, Shepard wanted them to be on their way.

* * *

The asari formerly known as Serena was trying her hardest to keep her eyes focused on what she was watching through her binoculars. The thing that was making it hard for her to focus was the constant nagging coming from the human male standing next to her. If it wasn't for the fact that her employer insisted that the guy was important to the plan, she would have gladly put a bullet in the guy's head to shut him up. At the same time she understood why he was nagging her. She didn't like to play the waiting game either. Of course she knew it was worse for the man because this target was the one he was in charge of and he was personally looking forward to handling it. Unfortunately they had their orders. They were not to make their move until they heard from the boss.

"This is my operation," the man said, "the boss said that I'm in charge. Yet ever since we got here, you've been practically ordering me to sit on my ass and do nothing."

"You will be in charge once the mission actually starts," the asari growled, "but the mission can't start until we get the "go" from the boss. Until then we wait."

The man let out frustrated sigh as he picked up his own pair of binoculars and looked in the same direction the asari was. From where they were they had a perfect view of their target and the majority of the security that they would have to deal with to get to it. It didn't intimidate him though. He and the asari had gone over the plan so many times they had the steps memorized. They accounted for as many possible complications as they could. He was ready. Now if only the boss would give them the go ahead.

Suddenly the asari's omni-tool appeared and made a chime to announce an incoming transmission. Both she and the man almost dropped their binoculars as their adrenaline began to brew in anticipation of what this call might be about. The asari switched on her comm. and the two were greeted by the distorted voice of their employer.

"Any unusual activities happen since our last conversation?"

"Negative Boss," the asari replied, "the target is still in sight and security still has no idea that we're here."

"Excellent. By my estimates Shepard should be close to figuring out where you are. Of course by the time he does it will be too late to call in the warning. You are a go. The mission is yours Corporal."

"Thank you Boss, I thought you'd never ask. We're moving out now."

As soon as the call ended, the man raised his hand and then pointed towards their target like a commander issuing a charge. In response, a large group of heavily armed troops came out of the cover they were hiding in and slowly moved with the man and the asari as they made their way towards where the man pointed.


	33. 4-4

It didn't take long for Shepard to get a response from Councilor Hackett about where the research facility that was producing the biotic cure was located. To Shepard's surprise, Hackett told him the facility was located on Oliveira, the moon of the planet Silva in the Euler System of the Arcturus Stream cluster. The reason for Shepard's surprise was last he heard there were no infrastructure's left on Oliveria since Silva stopped serving as a source for helium-3. Hackett explained that it was because Oliveria was thought by the galaxy to be abandoned that it was chosen as the site for the facility. Until Shepard had told him about the mystery backer having blueprints for the facility, Hackett thought that facility was still a closely guarded secret. Hackett ordered Shepard and his squad to get to the facility as soon as possible and stop whatever the backer was planning. Though they both knew Shepard was planning on going even if Hackett didn't give the order.

That was how Ashley had now found herself sitting on the Kodiak shuttle heading towards the facility. Garrus and Liara, who had boarded the Normandy just before Shepard got the location from Hackett, were with her in the passenger compartment doing a final weapons check. Shepard was up front in the co-pilot's chair with shuttle pilot Lt. Steve Cortez next to him. For the better part of the trip, no one said a word until Shepard started trying to establish contact with the facility. From the urgency that was slowly building in Shepard's tone, Ashley was getting a bad feeling that Shepard wasn't having any luck. She got up from her seat and moved towards the pilot's compartment just in time to hear Shepard curse.

"No luck reaching the facility skipper?" she asked.

Shepard shook his head and kept his eyes focused on the controls while he spoke to Ashley, "it's like there's no one there. From what Hackett told me, the facility is supposed to have protocols in place to prevent communications blackouts. There's no reason our calls shouldn't be answered unless…"

"…unless the backer's forces have already begun their attack and killed everyone. If the enemy is already there then someone has probably heard our hails and knows we're coming."

"They wouldn't have needed to hear our hails to know that. The backer practically dared me to find this place. I wouldn't be surprised if they had a timetable predicting that we would be arriving at this very time."

"I have the facility on sensors Captain," said Cortez, "we'll be there in a few minutes."

"Copy that Lieutenant. Williams make sure everyone is ready back there. We don't know what's waiting for us so we should expect the worst."

Ashley was about to acknowledge Shepard's instructions when she suddenly was overtaken by a familiar sense of nausea. She quickly placed a hand on her mouth and made a small sound as she attempted to keep herself from throwing up. The noise was loud enough that it caused Shepard and Cortez to turn around. She was barely able to drop her hand from her mouth before they faced her. From the way they looked at her, Ashley figured that she must have looked as bad as she felt.

"You okay Commander?" Cortez asked.

Trying to hide her discomfort, Ashley did her best to smile.

"Yeah Lieutenant," she replied, "just thinking about the mission. We'll be ready to go as soon as we land skipper."

Shepard and Cortez smiled back and then turned their attention back to the controls. Once Shepard had completely looked away, Ashley moved quickly towards the back of the shuttle attracting the attention of Garrus and Liara. She took a seat across from them and began taking slow, deep breaths in an attempt to settle the nausea. To her relief, the nauseous feeling passed. It was at that point she noticed Garrus and Liara looking at her with concern.

"Are you all right Ashley?" Liara asked. "You don't look well."

"I'm fine," Ashley replied trying to convince herself that she was as well, "just had a brief attack of the jitters. That's all."

"Happens even to the best of us," said Garrus, "even though we've defeated the Reapers, which were probably the worst enemies I will ever have to face, I still get a little bit tense before a fight. As long as you don't let it overtake you too much, you'll be fine."

"Thanks Garrus, I'll keep that in mind. Anyway, Shepard wanted me to tell you to be ready for anything. The facility is not responding so the enemy has more than likely begun their attack and they will be expecting us. Until we know for sure who we're up against, we need to expect the worst."

Garrus nodded his acknowledgement and went back to work on his rifle. Liara nodded too but she didn't take her eyes off Ashley right away. From the look on her face, Ashley felt that Liara was not as easily convinced as Garrus was that she was fine. It was like Liara was feeling the asari equivalent of female intuition that something was wrong. Eventually Liara decided to let the matter be and went back to work on her own weapons.

The shuttle remained silent for the remainder of the trip. All the while, Ashley sat trying to figure out if she really was fine. The nauseous feelings were coming more frequently and each time they came was stronger than the last. If it happened again she doubted she would be able to stop herself from finally throwing up. She silently cursed to herself as she wondered why this had to be happening to her now and if she had made the wrong decision by not having Dr. Chakwas take a look at her before they left. It was her original plan to get a physical as soon as her shore leave was over and she was back on the Normandy. Despite coming back to the ship sooner than expected, Ashley decided to put off the visit. The recent developments with the mystery backer caused her to convince herself that she would be fine without the visit a while longer. She wanted to be with Shepard to support him when he found the backer and she didn't want to be medically forbidden from doing so. After what just happened though, she wondered if her stubbornness was finally getting the better of her.

* * *

When the shuttle had gone and Shepard and his squad were left on the roof of the facility, the first thing that got his attention was the lack of battle sounds. There was no gunfire, explosions or the sound of someone giving orders. Did they miss the battle? That was what it sounded like but he couldn't imagine that the backer's forces could have taken an Alliance facility that quickly. But Shepard knew that even if there wasn't a battle going on at the moment, there was a good chance there would be one shortly after they entered. He ordered his squad to ready weapons as they made their way towards the roof's stairwell access.

With the access codes Hackett had given them, getting into the facility was easy. The first room they entered after exiting the stairwell reminded Shepard of a security checkpoint at a civilian spaceport. There were several walk-through scanners and x-ray machines to scan luggage. Considering the secret nature of the experiments conducted in the facility, it made sense to Shepard that they would have this tight of security even for visitors who came in from the roof. No doubt there was a similar setup down on ground level.

Aside from the security equipment, the room was also filled with something that they were sort of expecting. The room was littered with bodies of the Alliance security staff that manned the checkpoint. They were expecting to find bodies since the attack had likely happened before they arrived. What they did not expect was to find bodies here in this room. There was no evidence that the backer's troops had entered from the roof. If an attack was launched from below, the guards on the roof would've had to join in the attack on the lower levels. Yet the bodies scattered around the room told Shepard that they never had a chance to leave their posts.

The other strange thing was there was no evidence a battle had taken place in the room. There was no blood on any of the bodies or walls and no bullet holes. It was almost like every guard had just dropped where they stood. Shepard ordered Garrus and Liara to check the bodies while he and Ashley ran to the door on the opposite end of the room to check the adjacent hallway for hostiles. A few chirps came from Garrus and Liara's omni-tools as they began gathering readings.

"Shepard," said Garrus as the results of his scan began coming in, "I'm picking up residue from some kind of gas in their lungs."

"So they were poisoned?" Shepard asked.

"No," Liara gasped in surprise, "the gas knocked them out but they're still alive."

Both Shepard and Ashley turned to Liara surprised at her reply. Ashley quickly knelt down to the closet body and felt for a pulse. Sure enough, though it was weak, she could feel a steady pulse. She nodded to Shepard to confirm Liara's finding.

To Shepard, the fact that the soldiers were still alive didn't make sense. Strategically it would have been smarter for the backer's troops to kill every soldier they came across. That way there was no chance of someone waking up and shooting them in the back. True Shepard would prefer being able to complete a mission with no casualties as he was not someone who took pleasure in killing. But the truth was it was too risky to do that on most missions. Even if you could use a knockout gas that worked for a long period of time, there was always a chance someone might wake up sooner. What little he knew about the backer told him they should have been smart enough to know that as well. Yet it seemed that the backer's troops went to extreme lengths to keep the soldiers alive.

On the other hand, it did explain why there weren't any battle sounds when they arrived. If the backer's troops had released the gas in every room in the facility, the opposition would have been taken out quickly and they wouldn't have lost any people. It also explained why the guards never had the chance to leave their posts. The part that troubled Shepard the most was the fact it would be easier for the backer's troops to knock everyone out if there was an inside man with access to the ventilation systems. Considering the backer's influence, it wouldn't have surprised Shepard if the backer had bought someone off. That aside, the only question remaining was if the backer's troops didn't have a lot of resistance, were they able to complete their mission and leave before Shepard and his squad arrived?

"All right people," he said, "according to the blueprints we got from the picture frame, the floor we're on right now is used as office space for the top researchers. The bottom two floors are where the labs are. We don't know for sure what the backer's forces are looking for here so we'll work our way from room-to-room and move down to the lower levels. Watch your fire as there may still be some conscious friendlies hiding somewhere otherwise anyone who attacks us is to be treated as hostiles."

"Got it," Ashley, Garrus and Liara said in unison.

Once everyone was ready, Shepard led them out the door and into the hallway. Just like the blueprints indicated, the hallway had rows of doors that went clear down to the other end. Each door had a sign on it to indicate the title of the person who occupied the office on the other side. The group made their way down the hallway in a diamond shaped formation. Shepard took point watching for any action from the front. Garrus watched the back for the unlikely event that they might have missed someone who would try to surprise them from the back. Liara and Ashley walked side by side in the middle and had the job of securing each office. Every time the group reached a door, Shepard and Garrus would hold position while Ashley and Liara quickly peeked inside the offices looking for any hostiles or any indication that the room had been searched.

The majority of offices they checked were for the most part all clear. A few of them did have the unconscious body of the person who the office belonged to but it wasn't a surprise that they were inside when the gas knocked them out. It was when they got to the second to last set of doors that they found something unusual. The office Ashley checked was fine but the one Liara checked was different. The sign on the door said that the office belonged to the facility's chief security officer. Unlike the other offices, this one had clearly been ransacked. Drawers were emptied, books were thrown off shelves and anything that was sitting on the desk had been knocked onto the floor.

Shepard silently signaled for Garrus and Liara to stay in the hall and keep watch while he and Ashley stepped inside the office. He wasn't optimistic that they would find anything but it was possible whoever ransacked the office left behind a clue. For the most part he was right. Most of the items they examined didn't help them. Not that Shepard was surprised because he felt that if the stuff in the office was important to the backer's forces, they would have taken them. The key was to figure out what items were missing. That would prove to be difficult as Shepard and Ashley didn't know what was in the office to begin with.

"Ash, I found something," said Shepard.

He was standing in front of a large steel cabinet. Though from what Shepard saw inside it seemed to mostly serve as a wardrobe. There were several changes of clothes inside. They were mostly formal items but there were some casual wear as well. The item in particular that caught his attention was an Alliance dress uniform. The nameplate outside the office didn't give the name of the security officer but the uniform told Shepard two things about them.

"Based on the insignia," Shepard continued, "the chief security officer is a Lieutenant in the Alliance and is a woman."

"How can you tell?" Ashley asked.

Shepard pulled out the uniform and held it in front of him to show it was a few sizes smaller than he was, "let's just say I think this would fit you better than me."

Ashley giggled at Shepard's joke and proceeded to search the security officer's desk. While there was nothing in the desk's drawers, Ashley's inspection of desktop turned up an important clue. The desktop for the most part had been cleared of every item that had been on top as evidenced by the terminal and office supplies sitting on the floor next to it. Upon closer examination however, Ashley noticed a few strands of long brown hair.

"Do you think these have been here long?" Ashley asked Shepard.

"I doubt it," he replied, "this place probably has a cleaning service that comes in once a week and tidies up the offices. These hairs were left here sometime in the last week, maybe even today. If that's the case then we have a serious problem."

"What's that?"

"I think the chief security officer was in here sitting at her desk when the gas was released. She was knocked out and her head landed on the desktop and the hairs were left behind then. Yet her body is nowhere to be seen. If she was knocked out, she wouldn't have walked out on her own. The backer's forces didn't come in here to take something but someone. This mess was deliberately made in an attempt to keep us from figuring out they actually came for her."

"Being the security officer, she would have unlimited access to the entire facility. If the security systems rely on biometrics rather than passwords and codes, then it would make sense for them to take the security officer with them. They'd have no trouble getting into the lab where the biotic cure research is located."

"Assuming that's even what they're after. I'm still not convinced that's why they're here. Right now the only thing we know for sure is our enemy has a hostage that we need to rescue. Come on, we should keep moving."

They rejoined Garrus and Liara in the hallway and proceeded to stairwell door at the end of the hall. The group hugged the wall next to the doorway with Shepard in front. He opened the door and quickly stepped back and listened. When he didn't hear any sounds on the other side, Shepard signaled for everyone to follow him down the stairs. They kept the pace slow so as not to make noises with their footsteps. When they made it down to the next floor, Shepard ordered everyone to hold before they exited the stairwell. It was then that they got their first signs of life.

A pair of voices could be heard on the other side of the door. From what Shepard could hear, he could tell the voices were both male but the tones told him that they were different races. If he had to guess, one was human and the other was a krogan. The krogan voice was talking about some of his fellow operatives patrol patterns and a package that was on its way to his squad leader somewhere else in the facility. Then the krogan said something that got Shepard's blood to boil. He was telling the human, whom he addressed as Chief, how much his boss appreciated his help releasing the knockout gas into the facility's ventilation system. The human replied that he didn't do it for his boss but because he owed the squad leader and was promised that there would be no casualties. It was at the point Shepard realized his theory was right. The backer's forces had inside help.

Shepard turned to the others and formed a plan. As soon as they opened the door, Garrus and Ashley would capture the human for questioning. Meanwhile he and Liara would be in charge of taking out the krogan. It was agreed by everyone that trying to capture the krogan would be too risky and that it was safer to kill him quickly. Besides that, Shepard doubted they would have been able to get anything useful out of the krogan. The last time he tried to interrogate one of the backer's people they committed suicide rather than give anything up. The human on the other hand sounded like he was a reluctant participant. If anyone would be willing to talk it would be him, not that it would be easy though. Shepard held up his hand to give everyone the final countdown before he opened the door.

3….2….1….GO!

The next few seconds seemed to move in slow motion. As soon as the door was open, the krogan and human on the other side turned to see Shepard and his squad. They reached for their weapons but there was no time to draw them. Liara unleashed a warp attack on the krogan to take out his armor. Shepard followed with a concussive shot to knock the krogan off his feet. He then proceeded to fire his assault rifle on him. He was also using incendiary modified rounds to nullify the krogan's regenerative abilities. It still required him to fire every possible round he could before the thermal clip needed to be replaced but finally the krogan was dead.

At the same time, Garrus used his omni-tool to overload the human's shields. Ashley then fired a concussive round of her own. When the human hit the ground, Garrus sprang on top of him and put a gag in the man's mouth to keep him from alerting any enemies who may be nearby. He then quickly cuffed the man's hands behind his back and brought him back into the stairwell where Shepard and the others were waiting. Once everyone was back in the stairwell, they listened for any reaction in the hall or from the floor below. Only silence was heard.

Convinced they were clear, Shepard took the man from Garrus and threw him up against the wall. He then ordered Ashley to watch the door to the hall and Garrus to watch the stairs to ensure no one came from below. Liara stayed with Shepard to question the man in case her scientific expertise was needed. Shepard looked the man over and sure enough he was wearing Alliance battle armor. The markings on his uniform indicated he was an operations chief. Alliance or not, this man was a traitor and traitors were among the criminals Shepard hated the most.

"Listen carefully," Shepard whispered sternly to the man, "I'm going to take the gag out of your mouth so I can ask you a few questions. If you make any attempts to call for help, I will hurt you. Nod if you understand."

The chief didn't show any signs of being afraid of Shepard but Shepard didn't expect him to. All Alliance military personal were trained on how to deal with interrogation. The only chance Shepard had of getting the chief to talk was going to be to convince him that it was in his best interests to talk. The fact that the chief seemed to be reluctant to help the backer's forces would make it easier for him to be convinced to turn on them. The chief finally nodded that he understood Shepard's instructions and Shepard took the gag out of his mouth.

"I know who you are," said the chief, "you're Captain Shepard. They said you might be coming. If you think you can scare me with your empty threats, you're wrong."

"What makes you think my threats are empty?"

"I've heard the stories about you. You don't kill people without a good reason and especially not an unarmed prisoner. So why don't you just knock me out because I'm not going to betray my friend."

Liara chuckled, "that's funny considering the fact that you were willing to betray your fellow soldiers here in the facility."

"WATCH YOUR MOUTH ASARI!" the chief shouted, "I haven't betrayed anyone! I did what I could to ensure that no one was killed when my friend and his people arrived."

"It doesn't matter Chief," said Shepard, "the Alliance stationed you here to guard this place and the secrets it contains. Instead you allowed armed intruders to breech this facility. That is treason and for that alone I could legally execute you right here and now thanks to my Spectre status. But I'm willing to give you ONE chance to do the right thing. If you want to live, all you have to do is tell me who these intruders are and what they're after."

To emphasize his point, Shepard pulled out his pistol and pointed it right at the chief's head. The chief didn't flinch but Shepard could see drops of sweat starting to appear on his face. The plan was working. He decided to try a simpler question. If he could get the chief to answer it maybe he would become more open to talk about other things.

"At least tell me this Chief, why did they take your security officer?"

The tension on the chief's face turned to confusion, "what are you talking about?"

"We passed by her office on the way here," said Liara, "she wasn't there but we know she was when the gas was released. She couldn't have left the office on her own so the only explanation is that they took her."

The chief shook his head, "you're wrong. They wouldn't have needed to take her. None of our security requires biometrics. They were only going into her office to get the codes to the main laboratory. If Lieutenant Lawson wasn't in her office than she must have been somewhere else."

Shepard's eyes opened wide with terror when he heard the security officer's name. Liara's reaction was the same. Even Ashley and Garrus had briefly taken their eyes away from their lookout spots when they heard the name. Shepard's mind started racing. He kept telling himself it couldn't be….her?

"What's….what's the lieutenant's first name?" he asked.

"What?"

Shepard placed the barrel of his pistol right on the chiefs forehead, "WHAT IS HER FIRST NAME?!"

For the first time since Shepard started questioning him, the chief was shaking with fear. The sudden aggressiveness in Shepard's tone had also caused the others to jump. The fear in the chief made him unable to speak. Then Shepard primed his pistol and shouted the question again. Finally the chief spoke and so fast that Shepard barely caught what he said."

"Miranda, her name is Lieutenant Miranda Lawson! Please don't kill me! Look I promise you she will be fine. Toombs said that all he wanted was her codes to access the labs."


	34. 4-5

When the chief realized he had said more than he should have, he forced his mouth closed. It didn't matter though. He might have said it fast but Shepard and his squad were able to catch the name of the person leading the intruders. It was a name that they all knew well.

Back when they were hunting Saren, Shepard's search took him to the planet Noveria. While he was there, he stumbled onto a log listing a transmission that was intercepted by Noveria security. The message was from someone who was trying to reach a scientist on the planet Ontarom in the Newton System of the Kepler Verge. The sender believed the scientist was in danger but the message never got through. When Shepard's mission on Noveria was over, he decided to investigate the location and see if there was something he could do to help the scientist.

Before he reached Ontarom, Shepard received a transmission from Admiral Hackett. He had been receiving troubling intel saying that someone had been murdering former Alliance scientists. The one thing the scientists all had in common was they were involved with a classified project on the planet Akuze six years prior. The sole remaining living scientist that was involved with the project was currently at the base on Ontarom and Hackett believed they were in danger as well. Shepard realized Hackett was talking about the same scientist he was already on his way to assist and told Hackett that he would look into it.

Upon arriving at the base, Shepard and his squad discovered it was already under attack by a mercenary group. It was a brutal fight but eventually Shepard and his squad found the scientist they were looking for but a mercenary was there as well pointing a gun right at the scientist's head. The mercenary was revealed to be Corporal Toombs, an Alliance soldier long thought to have been killed with the rest of his squad in a thresher maw attack on Akuze. Toombs explained that he had survived the maws but was abducted by the scientists and used as a test subject for horrific experiments. When Toombs eventually escaped, he discovered the scientists had deliberately lured his unit into the thresher nest and were conducting the experiments for Cerberus. He then made it his mission to get revenge by hunting down the scientists and killing each and every one.

Shepard realized after Toombs had finished speaking that the scientist being held at gunpoint could expose what really happened on Akuze to an Alliance court. In order to do that though he would need to still be alive to testify. It took a lot of careful talking from Shepard but he finally convinced Toombs that killing the scientist was not the way to get justice for what happened to him and his unit. He promised Toombs that he would see to it that the scientist was brought to trial and that he would get Toombs help for the PTSD he developed as a result of the trauma he endured from losing his unit and while Cerberus experimented on him. As a result of the mission, an independent inquiry was launched to investigate Cerberus thanks to Toombs and the scientist's testimonies. Unfortunately, as Shepard would later find out, Toombs had never fully recovered from his ordeal.

During his mission against the Collectors, Shepard had received an email from Toombs saying that he had heard rumors that Shepard was working for Cerberus. Toombs reiterated how brutal the tests were that Cerberus had conducted him and said that he couldn't understand how Shepard could team up with them like they were just another mercenary band with that knowledge. He warned Shepard that he had a new mercenary band of his own and they were killing any Cerberus teams they came across and that Shepard shouldn't expect different if the two of them ran into each other. Shortly after Shepard had defeated the Collectors, he replied to the email explaining that he never worked "for" Cerberus and was only working "with" them because he needed their resources to investigate the colony abductions. He further stated that his temporary alliance with them was done now that the Collectors had been defeated. Toombs replied back saying that he didn't care. To him, the fact that Shepard willingly helped the group that killed his unit and performed brutal experiments on him was a betrayal and he said that he still intended to kill Shepard if they ever met again. Fortunately Shepard never heard from or saw Toombs again…until now.

Now Shepard had found out that Toombs was in the facility and holding a good friend of his with a past connection to Cerberus. Thinking of what Toombs was possibly doing to Miranda was causing him to sweat nervously along with the chief who was still wondering what Shepard was going to do with the gun that was still pressed against his head. Finally Shepard's horrified face was beginning to cross with anger. Liara who was still standing next to him was the first to realize it and tried to reach out to calm Shepard down. Unfortunately her hand didn't reach his shoulder in time.

"You idiot!" Shepard growled as he used the butt of his pistol to strike the chief across the face. The force of the blow knocked the chief down to the ground. The sound of the blow caused Ashley and Garrus to turn from their lookout positions. They both were surprised to see the chief on the ground with a bloody nose and Shepard sitting on top of him and pressing his gun against the side of the chief's head.

"If Toombs is your friend then you should know that he was the victim of brutal experiments conducted on him by Cerberus," Shepard continued, "Lieutenant Lawson, before joining the Alliance, used to work for Cerberus. If Toombs has her then she doesn't have much time left to live. The only way we can stop him is if you tell us where he is….now."

The chief was still in pain from the blow to his face but he managed to reply, "no you're wrong. I've known Toombs for a long time and he's no killer. I heard about what happened to him but the last time I saw him he was getting help. He told me he needed to get into the facility to get something for his employer and that if I did as he said no one will be killed."

Shepard took his gun and used it to deal a sharp blow to the chief's ribs. The chief let out a loud painful groan and made an attempt to reach for his chest but his handcuffed wrists made it impossible. Ashley, Garrus and Liara all winced when they watched Shepard deal the blow. Not so much because of how much it probably hurt the chief but because they didn't expect Shepard to deal the blow at all. Shepard was always someone who usually kept his cool when he interrogated someone and would never use physical force. What Shepard was doing was not usual for him.

While Garrus and Liara had never seen Shepard act like this before, Ashley had and she began to think back to when it had happened. During the mission at Buckingham Palace, Shepard tried to get the backer's identity from their salarian operative Avot Yuless. Instead of giving up the name, Yuless just told Shepard that his employer was more powerful than he knew and said that he and Ashley had better enjoy the time they had left. Between the threat and having recently lost Vega, Shepard snapped and grabbed Yuless by the throat and Ashley was worried he was going to choke Yuless if he didn't get the name. Before Shepard could continue the questioning, Yuless killed himself by taking cyanide. Still there was a part of Ashley that worried what Shepard might have done if Yuless hadn't committed suicide. Now those worries were starting to return as they were now in an eerily similar situation.

"Shepard," she quietly said as she stepped towards Shepard.

"Don't Ash!" Shepard shouted.

Ashley froze where she stood. Shepard never called her by her first name in the field as part of their agreement to be professional when on missions. While a part of her felt that the slip was just because of the stress caused by one of his friends being in danger, she couldn't help but wonder if it was more than that. But she knew that this was not the best time to ask so she reluctantly took a step back and let Shepard continue while she shared a nervous glance with Liara and Garrus.

"The chief obviously has not talked to Toombs recently or else he would know that he's been leading a mercenary group that kills any Cerberus operatives they find. So he is not here to get something for an employer, he is here to kill Miranda. Now I'm going to ask you one more time Chief. Where is Toombs?"

The chief shook his head as he was trying to process what Shepard had told him. Shepard was beginning to worry that the conversation was taking too long. Either Miranda was going to be killed soon or a hostile would find them hiding in the stairwell and interrupt the interrogation. Seeing no other option and becoming increasingly impatient, he took his pistol and fired a shot inches above the chief's head. Ashley and Liara jumped back in surprise. Garrus shouted at Shepard asking what he was doing. Shepard even thought he could hear some muffled chatter coming from the hallway. He proceeded to tune everything out and instead focused on the pale face of the chief who looked like he was on the verge of crying. He then leaned forward so that his face was inches from the chief's. Despite the close proximity, he shouted the question again.

"WHERE IS HE?!"

"THE MED BAY!" the chief screamed. "HE'S IN THE MED BAY. STAY ON THIS FLOOR AND GET TO THE MAIN LAB PAST THE MESS HALL! THE MED BAY IS JUST THROUGH THERE!"

Now that he had the answer he needed and convinced the chief was telling the truth, Shepard used his free hand to knock him unconscious. As he stood up, he listened for the muffled chatter he heard earlier. It was no longer muffled and seemed to be getting louder. There was also the sound of footsteps approaching. He quickly recapped everything he saw in the hallway during the brief time he looked inside while they killed the krogan and subdued the chief. His memory didn't recall seeing any bodies on the floor in the hallway. That was all needed to know to decide his next course of action.

Shepard opened the door to the hallway while he was arming one of his grenades. When the door had opened, Shepard saw four mercenaries running towards the stairwell. Before either of them could raise their weapons, Shepard tossed the grenade into the hallway. The mercenaries instinctively ducked into some of the rooms in an attempt to find cover from the blast. Unfortunately for one of them, the grenade went off before they could escape. The remaining three were quickly gunned down when they tried to peek out from their hiding places by Ashley, Garrus and Liara. Once the dust had settled for the time being, Liara bent down to check the chief's neck for a pulse but was stopped by Shepard.

"Relax," he said, "I didn't kill him nor did I have any intention to."

"You could've fooled me Shepard," said Garrus, "I've always trusted your judgment but was beating the chief and firing your pistol really necessary?"

"I wish I could've been more subtle Garrus. I really do but the time for subtlety passed the minute I found out that Toombs was involved in this and is looking for Miranda. Now we heard the krogan tell the chief that a 'package' was on the way to Toombs. He had to have been talking about Miranda. We need to get to the med bay before Toombs gets his hands on her."

Before Shepard could enter the hallway, Liara grabbed his arm.

"Shepard, are you sure you're all right?" she asked.

Shepard let out a sigh of frustration, "Liara I appreciate your concern but now is not the time for us to be worrying about MY welfare. We need to worry about Miranda. You and Ashley were both with me when we stopped Toombs from murdering the Cerberus scientist. Garrus, I showed you that email I got from him during the Collector mission. We all know what Toombs is capable of and he will kill Miranda if we don't stop him."

Liara was about to protest when Ashley spoke up, "Shepard's right. Miranda is the one who needs help the most right now. So what do you want us to do skipper?"

Shepard gave Ashley an approving nod and continued, "thanks Williams. I'll take point with Liara and lead the way to the med bay. Garrus and Williams, I want you two to watch our six and make sure we don't have any enemies coming from the lower levels. Most importantly, keep your fire under control. There are still friendlies lying unconscious throughout the facility. I don't want any of them accidently killed by a stray shot or grenade. We all have our assignments. Be ready to move on my go."

Shepard turned to take one last peek into the hall to ensure they were still clear. Garrus and Liara looked at each other and shared uneasy looks. They quickly vanished when they saw Ashley look at them sternly and gestured for them to get into position. Shepard had at that point turned to face them and nodded to indicate they were clear. Ashley, Garrus and Liara all nodded in response. Once everyone was ready, Shepard led them into the hallway.

They squad didn't encounter any resistance until they reached the mess hall the chief mentioned. Shepard figured based on the number of bodies lying around that the attack must have taken place while the majority of the staff was on a meal break. After making it halfway through the room, the doors that led to the kitchen burst open and several mercenaries charged in and started firing.

Thanks to Liara's quick reaction, she was able to generate a biotic barrier to stop the bullets. She proceeded to hold up the barrier long enough for Shepard and the others to flip over some tables to use as cover. Shepard then fired a few rounds of suppressing fire to give Liara enough time to drop the barrier and join them behind the tables. Pinned down by gun fire, all Shepard and the others could do for the moment was hunker down and try to avoid the shrapnel caused by the bullet impacts.

A break came when the mercenaries that were coming from the left flank needed to reload. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Shepard peeked out from behind the table and was able to take out two of them with his assault rifle before he had to duck back behind cover. As the mercenaries continued firing, Shepard gave a series of signals to the others explaining there were at least 7 more hostiles still standing and they were spread out all along the area in front of them. All of them were also behind heavy cover that allowed to them to fire without risk of exposing themselves to attack. It was then he noticed that Garrus was starting to reach for one of his grenades. Shepard shook his head to warn against it. He knew that even if the grenade forced the mercs out from their cover, the blast would kill any of the unconscious friendlies nearby. He carefully peeked around the table one more time to assess the enemy's position.

"Liara throw out a singularity toward the right flank," he said.

Liara nodded and began to glow blue as her biotics warmed up again. She then peeked out from the right side of their cover and made a gesture with her arm like a bowler tossing a ball. Suddenly a small black hole appeared above where three of the mercs were hiding. The mercs began to panic as the black hole lifted them off the ground. Liara quickly raised her submachine gun and took out each one of them. Once they were dead, Liara moved forward to get into a position that would allow her to get a better shot on the remaining mercs.

While she moved, Shepard stepped out from cover and moved forward as well while providing Liara with suppressing fire to keep the remaining mercs pinned down. He even managed to get one in the head bringing the count down to three hostiles left. Provided no other mercs joined in the fight, the odds were now firmly in their favor.

"SIX O'CLOCK!"

Garrus' voice forced Shepard to duck behind the nearest table and turn to face the direction he called out from. His hope for no other mercs joining the fight vanished. Coming from the hallway behind them was another squad that probably came from the lower levels. Garrus and Ashley were already firing into the hallway to keep them from entering the mess hall. Shepard figured that as long as they continued doing that, there was no need for him to help so he turned his attention back to the three mercs still in front of them.

He then noticed Liara hiding behind a table a few feet ahead of him and to the right. She gave him a thumbs up to indicate that she had reached her new position without the other mercs seeing her. Shepard smiled and nodded that he understood. From where Liara was, she had the perfect angle to hit the remaining mercs the minute they stepped out from cover. All she needed was for someone to draw them out. Shepard held up his hand and three fingers to begin a countdown.

3….2…..1…..GO!

Shepard quickly stepped out from his cover and pretended to raise his rifle like he was about to fire towards the mercs. The mercs reacted by stepping out from their cover and began firing towards Shepard who was now quickly ducking back behind cover. Now fully exposed, the mercs were quickly gunned down by Liara's submachine gun. With no more enemies in front, Shepard and Liara headed for the exit. Shepard then called out to Garrus and Ashley saying they were moving on.

Upon hearing Shepard's orders, Ashley tapped Garrus on the shoulder to let him know she was going to move. Garrus nodded and continued to keep the mercs at bay in the hallway. When Ashley made it close to the exit where Shepard and Liara were waiting, she resumed firing into the hallway giving Garrus cover so he could join them. Before moving, Garrus placed something just outside the doors to the mess hall. He then practically bolted to join the others while shouting for them to get down. The others barely had a chance to do what he said when an explosion blew the doors to the hallway open and screams were heard. When the smoke had cleared, there were no more mercenaries in the hallway. Shepard turned to Garrus and gave him look that said "what was that?" Garrus just held his hand to give him a "it's okay" gesture.

"Don't worry Shepard," he said, "the explosion was small and controlled. I made sure there were no friendlies within the blast radius before I planted it."

Shepard sighed and then grinned, "I don't know why I doubted you. All right we're almost to the med bay. We just have to get through the main laboratory."

"There will undoubtedly be more mercenaries waiting for us there," Liara commented.

"Yeah and we'll have to watch our fire even more. The type of experiments this lab has been conducting will have required items that might be explosive in nature. A stray shot could set something off. Normally that would be good for us but if the scientists are in there they could get caught in the blast as well."

"I doubt the mercs will be as cautious with their shots," said Ashley.

"Then we have to make sure they never get a chance to fire any. It's time to do a little sniping."

Garrus smiled as he holstered his assault rifle and pulled out his M-97 Viper sniper rifle, "you just said my favorite word."

Shepard and Ashley pulled out their own sniper rifles while Liara went on ahead. Being the only one who wasn't a sniper, it was up to her to peek inside and then open the doors. From what she could see through the crack, there were indeed some mercenaries lying in wait for them to enter. She even saw that some of the unconscious scientists had been strung up from the ceiling and lined up in the center of the room. It was a cleaver plan for the most part by the mercs. If Shepard had decided to burst into the lab guns blazing, they would have hesitated upon seeing the bodies and would have been vulnerable to attack. Liara smiled as she thought about how it would be the mercs who were going to be getting a surprise instead. She turned to Shepard and warned him about the friendlies on the other side and waited for him to give her the signal to open the doors. Shepard nodded to indicate that he understood and that he and the others were ready.

Liara opened the door and stepped to the side before it opened completely. The mercs on the other side stepped out from cover and prepared to fire on Shepard and the squad but froze in confusion when they didn't see them when the door opened. Suddenly one of the mercs' head exploded when struck by Shepard's sniper round. Then two more heads exploded after Garrus and Ashley took their shots. After a few more mercs were picked off, the remaining ones ducked back behind cover and tried to move forward to close the gap between them in hopes that it would be harder for them to be sniped. Their plan backfired when they realized too late that Liara was waiting right on the other side of the door frame and were quickly dropped by her pistol.

When the last merc fell, Shepard led the squad through the laboratory and into the adjacent med bay. They froze when they saw what was waiting form them on the other side of the door. Strapped to one of the beds was their friend Miranda Lawson. Worse still, she had tubes hooked up to her limbs. Aside from the tubes there wasn't any indication that she had been harmed and they figured she was just unconscious.

Shepard scanned the room quickly looking for any hostiles or traps. At first glance it appeared that Miranda was the only one in the room. He began to get a bad feeling in his gut. If Miranda was what Toombs was after he should have been here waiting for her. Something wasn't right.

Suddenly Miranda stirred as she started to wake up. Her head then turned towards Shepard and the squad just as her eyes began to open.

"Shepard?" she said softly.

There was nothing Shepard wanted to do more than to run to Miranda and get her out of the restraints but the feeling in his gut that something was wrong kept him from taking another step towards her. Unfortunately Ashley, Garrus and Liara didn't have the same feeling and ran to help Miranda. Shepard shouted for them to wait and even took a few steps to try to grab them. Suddenly an alarm sounded and a barrier appeared to separate them from Miranda.

"Quick," Shepard ordered, "maybe we can find another way to her."

But when they turned to leave the med bay, the found that a barrier had appeared behind them as well. With a barrier in front and behind him, they were trapped. They looked around for the source of the barrier or any other means to shut them down but quickly found that there was nothing they could use to help them escape.

It was then they heard the sound of slow clapping. They turned toward the source and saw an asari and a human male wearing a helmet with tinted glass step out from behind a cabinet of medical supplies. The male was the one who was clapping. After he had finished, he took off his helmet revealing himself to be the man Shepard and the others knew as Corporal Toombs.

"Hello Shepard," he said, "long time, no see."


	35. 4-6

While it had only been a few years since the last time Shepard and Toombs met on Ontarom, Toombs looked as if he had aged at least a decade. It was all attributed to the fact that he was now sporting a fully grown beard and his graying hair was now long enough that it reached down to his shoulders. Despite the extra amount of hair covering it, Shepard could also make out several new scars that were on Toombs' face. Shepard could only guess they were acquired from missions he had done with his mercenary group. Obviously the mercenary life had not been good to Toombs.

"What?" Toombs said feigning surprise. "You're not going to say hello back Shepard? That's a fine way to treat an old acquaintance. Oh wait, that's right. You never really cared about me. It was all just an act to save your real buddy, Dr. Wayne the Cerberus scientist."

Shepard didn't respond to Toombs' taunts. He knew there was no point in doing so. He had already had this discussion with Toombs in the email he sent after the Collector mission. If Toombs wasn't going to listen to him back then, he certainly wasn't going to listen to him now. All he and the others could do was watch as Toombs made his way over to the bed Miranda was strapped to.

As Toombs stepped closer to the side of the bed, Miranda began to breathe heavier and heavier. While Shepard wanted to believe she was just angry at Toombs for tying her down, he couldn't help but wonder if the increased rate of her breathing was due to fear. Not that he could blame her if she was. Miranda was someone who liked to be in control of everything she did. Being strapped down to a bed gave her absolutely no control over what the madman who held her might do. Worse still, the one person she figured would be able to save her was trapped between unbreakable barriers. Any sane person would be afraid in a situation like that.

"Well that's okay," Toombs continued, "it's not like you saying anything will do any good. I'm not going to let you sweet talk me out of killing this Cerberus bitch like you did with the scientist."

Miranda grunted as she tried to get up from the bed but it was no use. The restraints were just too tight. Toombs looked to the asari standing next to him and smiled. The asari smiled back and the two of them chuckled as they watched Miranda continue to struggle. Then Toombs slowly reached to stroke Miranda's face. Before he could, Miranda spat at him and managed to get him in the eye. Initially Toombs didn't react. He merely wiped the spit from his eye and began to walk away from the bed. He didn't get far before he suddenly turned back and slapped Miranda across the face. Finally Shepard couldn't keep quiet any longer.

"LEAVE HER ALONE YOU SON OF A BITCH!" he shouted.

Toombs held up his in hands like he was surrendering and stepped back from the bed, "very well Shepard. You win. She doesn't need to die just yet."

"Toombs you don't need to do this," said Liara, "Miranda doesn't work for Cerberus anymore. In fact she's was instrumental in helping us destroy Cerberus for good."

"Don't waste your breath Liara," Shepard growled, "it's pointless trying to reason with him. As far as he's concerned, simply working for Cerberus at all is an automatic death sentence."

"That's right Shepard," said Toombs, "which means that I will someday be planning on serving you the same sentence."

"For God's sake Toombs," Ashley said frustrated, "Shepard never worked for Cerberus. Do you think I would've married him if he had? I know how evil Cerberus really was and I never would have approved of Shepard joining them for any reason."

"Say what you will Commander. You and I both know that it's not true. Your love for Shepard is strong enough that you would overlook anything he did. Hell you were willing to overlook a murder that Shepard committed before he even joined Cerberus."

Toombs' last statement had shocked everyone into silence. Ashley, Garrus and Liara looked to Shepard with a questioning look. Shepard just shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. He had no idea what Toombs was talking about. As far as he knew, every time he had killed someone it was during a kill or be killed situation. Nothing would ever make him think any one of them could be considered murder.

"I know I've killed many people in the past but it was always with good reason," Shepard shot back.

"Really?" Toombs replied with his face not showing any signs of being convinced with Shepard's answer, "that's not what my colleague and our employer say. Which reminds me, let me introduce you to my colleague Luciana."

The asari Toombs pointed to smiled and nodded, "pleased to finally meet you in person everyone, especially you Captain Shepard. Kelly told me so many wonderful things about you….well of course she did until she had that terrible brain hemorrhage (chuckle)."

That pretty much confirmed what Shepard had already guessed. Luciana was indeed the Ardat-Yakshi that killed Kelly. It was bad enough he was finally meeting Kelly's killer but to hear her laugh as if talking about Kelly's death was a joke was really making him want to put a bullet in her head. The only thing keeping him from being able to do so was the barrier between them. From the looks on the faces of his squadmates, they were wishing the same thing.

"You mean until you killed her," growled Garrus.

"Oh let's not worry about that little detail. The important thing is what Toombs said is right. I know you are a murderer Shepard and so does my employer."

"Your employer is one to talk," said Liara, "if it hadn't been for Shepard your employer would have been partially responsible for the deaths of thousands of people."

Luciana looked at Liara with a puzzled expression, "if it hadn't been for 'whom' Dr. T'Soni? From what I remember, the only reason Shepard was able to save those people was because of some issues the terrorists had carrying out their plans."

The statement prompted Shepard to think back to the events of all three plots. While he wanted to believe he was the one most responsible for stopping them, he had to admit that the issues Luciana mentioned were the main reason he was able to. He had been thinking for the last few months that each scheme having an issue that ultimately led to him being able to accomplish his missions was too much of a coincidence but he couldn't think of an explanation for them. But now that Luciana had brought it up, he finally found one.

"Your boss intentionally sabotaged the schemes. There was no intention for those schemes to succeed."

"Correct," said Luciana, "contrary to what you all think, my employer is not a killer. When the plans were put together, we took every precaution to ensure no innocent civilians would be lost. Of course we didn't mention that to Balak, the Dalatrass or Finch. As a matter of fact we were quite pleased that they all ended up dead or put in prison. It meant there were three less criminals free to roam the galaxy."

"But why would you fund their schemes in the first place?" Ashley asked, "if you weren't planning on allowing them to succeed then you were putting people at risk for no reason."

Luciana chuckled, "you people really don't have a clue what's going on do you? This is all about Shepard. He claims not to be a murderer but we know that is a lie. He murdered someone very close to my employer and we're going to see to it that he pays for it. My employer funded those terrorists so that they would create dangerous situations that would require the Council to ask Shepard to get a squad together to stop them and…."

"And then Shepard would end up being killed at some point during the mission," Garrus interrupted, "after three times your boss should've realized that the plan wasn't working."

Luciana was about to pick up where Garrus interrupted when she noticed that Shepard looked like he had come to a realization. Whatever it was, it was a bad one. She could tell because when she locked eyes with him, she saw horror and sadness in them.

"It wasn't me they were trying to kill Garrus," he said.

"Very good Shepard," Luciana replied, "my employer knew right away that the best way to get revenge was not by killing you outright. That does not even come close to making up for all the suffering you have caused. No the best way to do it is by killing those closest to you first so that you can suffer the same way my employer did before you die yourself. The true purpose of everything we've done so far was to create situations that would ultimately result in the death of one or more of your friends. With the exception of one initial failure, the plan has been working exceptionally well."

"Kasumi."

"Yes. One of the batarians under Balak's command was actually working for us and he was in charge of ensuring that the thief died during the mission. Once Balak had taken her hostage, our batarian friend was to get into the perfect sniping position and kill her. From your point of view, it would have seemed as if Balak had gotten trigger happy and killed her. Everything was going perfectly until you just happened to step into the path of his shot. Any shot he would have taken would have killed you as well and we weren't ready for you to die yet. By the time he was able to get a shot, you had already killed Balak and his men. Killing the thief then would have tipped you off to our plan too soon. So unfortunately we had to let her go."

"But we don't have to worry about that happening now," said Toombs as he made his way back to the Miranda's bed, "Shepard do you remember the question I asked you when I was holding that Cerberus scientist, the one I asked in response to when you asked me what Cerberus had done to me?"

Shepard eyes widened with horror when he remembered what Toombs was talking about, "no Toombs! Don't do it!"

It was then that Toombs pulled out a large vial from his pocket. The vial was filled with a yellow colored liquid. If it was what Shepard thought it was, Toombs had something really unpleasant planned for it. Toombs took the vial and hooked it up to a machine that was connected to the tubes that ran into Miranda's limbs.

"Now we'll find out what happens when a larger dose of thresher maw acid is pumped into this Cerberus bitch's veins."

There was no doubt in Shepard's mind now that the expression on Miranda's face was conveying terror. She fearfully watched as with a push of button, the machine began pumping the acid through the tubes. The acid flowed quickly through until it entered her limbs. At first Miranda just grunted as she began to feel a slight discomfort. Soon she felt like her insides were on fire due to the acid eating away at her veins. Her grunts turned to a long and loud piercing scream. It was so loud that Shepard's pleading for Toombs to stop couldn't be heard.

The sight of what was happening to Miranda caused Ashley and Liara to cover their mouths in horror while tears began to form in the eyes. Garrus just closed his eyes and sadly turned his head away. Shepard continued shouting for Toombs to stop and had even begun to bang on the barrier as if it might make it disappear. His focus shifted between looking at Miranda and watching Toombs as he and Luciana began to make their way towards the exit. Before leaving the room, Toombs turned and gave Shepard a smile and a mock salute while Luciana smiled as well and blew Shepard a kiss. With one final wave, the duo vanished as the med bay doors closed behind them. Once they were gone, Shepard's pleading grew quieter and the rate at which he banged on the barrier slowed. He then began to cry himself as he continued to quietly repeat "no."

A minute after Toombs and Luciana had left, the barrier separating Shepard and the others from Miranda suddenly vanished. Shepard didn't bother asking himself what was going on and ran to Miranda's side with the others right behind him. The first thing Shepard did was use his omni-blade to sever the tubes from the acid pumping machine, effectively stopping the flow of acid into Miranda. Once he was done, he turned to speak to the others.

"Liara," he said, "stay here and help me with Miranda. Williams, Garrus….."

"You don't even need to say it Shepard," said Ashley as she and Garrus ran out of the med bay in pursuit of Toombs and Luciana.

Once Ashley and Garrus were gone, Shepard turned his attention back to Miranda. She wasn't screaming as much now that the acid was no longer pumping through her. But the damage was done and she continued to grunt in pain. While Shepard brought up his omni-tool to administer medi-gel, Liara was using hers to run scans to assess the damage that the acid had done to Miranda. Shepard was ready to push the button to give Miranda the medi-gel when he noticed Liara's face was deeply solemn.

"What is it Liara?" he asked even though he had a hunch he already knew the answer.

"I'm sorry Shepard," replied Liara, "it's too late."

Shepard shook his head, "no it can't be. We're in a med bay for crying out loud. There has to be something we can do."

"Shepard even if we gave her the medi-gel now, it won't do any good. Some of the acid managed to flow through her veins and reach her heart. It's been damaged and neither one of us has the medical training to patch it up here. There's no telling when her heart will stop beating but it'll be soon enough that we don't have the time we need to get her back to the Normandy for Dr. Chakwas to properly repair it."

"Dammit!" Shepard shouted as he banged his fist on the bed and hung his head in sadness.

"Shepard," Miranda managed to whisper through the pain, "it's okay."

Shepard looked up and towards Miranda. It was only then he noticed the damage the acid had done to her head. There were three spots that had been eaten away: one on her forehead, one on her left cheek and one on her neck. She winced as a tear fell from her left eye and hit the spot on her cheek. But what surprised Shepard the most was that Miranda tried to give him a reassuring smile through the pain. He forced himself to smile back and gently took her hand. He then looked to Liara and nodded towards the exit. Liara nodded that she understood and pulled out her submachine gun as she went to join Ashley and Garrus.

"I'm sorry Miranda," he said when Liara had left.

"You don't have anything to apologize for Shepard," Miranda replied, "This isn't your fault. I know you did everything you could. (hiss) Damn it hurts. Please Shepard don't let me die like this."

The request took Shepard by surprise, "Miranda….I…."

"Please Shepard. If I'm going to die anyway, let me go quickly."

Realizing that he couldn't leave Miranda as she was, Shepard reluctantly pulled out his pistol and moved towards the foot of the bed. His hand shook as he slowly raised the pistol to point it at Miranda's head.

"Wait," Miranda said before Shepard had the gun leveled, "can you do one more thing for me?"

"Of course," replied Shepard, "name it."

"Will you kiss me?"

Shepard gasped, "what?"

"It doesn't have to be on the lips (grunt)."

Shepard didn't know what to do. On the one hand he didn't want to deny Miranda's request. She was dying and he was a firm believer in granting a person's dying wish. Not only that but he owed a lot to Miranda. She was part of the Lazarus Project that brought him back from the dead and since then she had been a loyal friend to him. But while Shepard cared for Miranda, his heart ultimately belonged to Ashley. He felt that if he kissed Miranda he would be betraying his wife.

Miranda sensed Shepard's hesitation and continued, "I realize it's a tough thing for me to ask for but it's something I've always wanted. You know that I've had feelings for you since the Collector mission. I haven't had those kinds of feelings for anyone else. I know I promised you that I would move on but I couldn't. I love you Shepard. You may not be able to love me in return but…I will always love you."

"Miranda I….I can't."

Miranda sighed, "I understand Shepard. (hiss). Ashley's an amazing woman and she's lucky to have you (grunt). Dammit. Do what you want Shepard. Just please do it quick."

Shepard began to raise his pistol again towards Miranda's head. This time he stopped himself before he had it leveled. He just couldn't do it yet. Miranda had made a request and he owed it to her grant it. Ashley would understand. In Shepard's mind, a kiss was the least he could do for everything that Miranda had done for him. He moved back to the side of the bed, leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead.

Miranda smiled and whispered, "thank you."

After Miranda nodded to indicate she was ready, Shepard moved to the foot of the bed and this time leveled the pistol right at Miranda's head. His finger trembled as it slowly pulled the trigger. Before he pulled it all the way, he noticed Miranda mouth "I love you." He mouthed back "I know" and pulled the trigger the rest of the way.

* * *

Inside the Normandy's captain's cabin, Shepard was lying on the bed looking up at the stars through the window on the ceiling. His eyes were almost red from all the crying he had been doing. He couldn't remember the last time he had cried this much. A lot had happened at the facility. Disturbing revelations were made, Ashley and Garrus were unable to stop Toombs and Luciana from escaping in a shuttle and Shepard had lost another friend. What made the last thing even harder to deal with was the fact that he had to euthanize her himself. To top it off, he was still no closer to finding the mystery backer.

However he did get more information on Luciana. On the shuttle ride back to the Normandy, he had gotten a call from Samara. She was able to confirm that Luciana was indeed the real name of the Ardat-Yakshi he met at the facility. According to Samara, Luciana was known by friends and family for being a good person overall but she had some radical thoughts when it came to punishing criminals. Originally she worked as a dancer and moved around from club to club. It soon became apparent to authorities that every time Luciana began working at a new club, there was a spike in the murder of local criminals. The only reason she was never arrested was because she had help from sympathetic cops and civilians who would help her flee before anyone could catch her. She was diagnosed as an Ardat-Yakshi shortly after the end of the Reaper War and refused to move to the monastery saying she needed to be out in the galaxy using her condition to take out criminals. Thanks to the help of a sympathetic doctor, Luciana was able to escape execution and vanished without a trace. Shepard could only guess that it was shortly after vanishing that Luciana came across the mystery backer.

Even with Samara's information, Shepard felt helpless. He had no leads to pursue and the backer was not being helpful this time and giving him any hints. The last time Shepard felt this helpless was after Cerberus took the Prothean data on Thessia that he needed to finish the Crucible and end the Reaper War. If it wasn't for the break that Specialist Traynor found that led them to Horizon, they would have lost the war right there. Sadly Shepard couldn't think of any break that would help him here.

A knock on the door snapped him out of his thoughts. He growled in frustration as he had left strict orders with the crew that he was not to be disturbed. He was about to yell at the person and tell them to go away. Then he realized that it might be her. This was her cabin too after all. So he had to risk it and told the person to come in.

It was indeed Ashley who was waiting on the other side of the door. She stepped into the cabin but didn't speak right away as she seemed to be contemplating whether or not to join Shepard on the bed. To her relief, Shepard patted the spot next to him inviting her to join him. She sat next to him and leaned on his shoulder as he put his arm around her.

"Are you ready to talk about it?" she asked.

Shepard sighed, "Not really but I guess I need to do it sooner or later. I just wish I knew where to begin."

"Just start with whatever is upsetting you the most right now?"

Shepard broke away from Ashley and lied back down on the bed. Ashley lied down next to him and placed a hand on Shepard's chest. Shepard took her hand but he didn't look at her. He just kept looking up at the stars. He already knew the answer to Ashley's question but he was nervous to tell her about it as it would deal with something that, if not handled right, might make Ashley mad at him. In the end, he decided he had to tell her.

"Miranda," he said.

"I figured that was going to be it," Ashley sighed, "I can't imagine what it was like for you to have to do what you did. But you did it so that she wouldn't suffer. The important thing to remember is that you weren't the one who killed her."

"I know Ash but the thing I keep thinking about is what happened before I shot her."

"What happened?"

The moment of truth had arrived, "she told me she loved me."

"What?" Ashley asked as she sat up.

"She told me that after she asked me to kiss her."

"She asked you…" Ashley began to say as jealously started to overtake her, "did you?"

"Yes but…."

(SMACK)

Ashley slapped Shepard before he could continue. She then moved to get off the bed. Shepard reached out to stop her but she just managed to get out of his reach and was now heading for the door. Shepard rubbed his sore cheek while feeling slightly dumbfounded. A part of him knew it wasn't going to be easy telling Ashley about the kiss but her slapping him was the last thing he expected. Normally she would have given him the chance to explain something before deciding whether or not he deserved to be slapped. He then realized Ashley had almost made it to the door while he was questioning what happened and quickly got off the bed to follow her.

"Ash it was just a kiss on the forehead," he called out, "it was her dying request. I couldn't say no."

Ashley froze before she could push the button to open the door and leave. A part of her wanted to do it. But the stronger part of her was telling her to stay and let Shepard explain. She had nearly lost Shepard once because she wouldn't let Shepard explain the truth behind his temporary alliance with Cerberus. She cared for Shepard too much to let that happen again. After taking a deep breath to calm herself down, she turned back towards Shepard. Even though her head was bowed, Shepard could see that Ashley was starting to cry.

"Did you love her?" she asked.

"What?" Shepard replied slightly taken aback by the question.

"Did you love her?"

"No," Shepard said as he walked towards Ashley and lifted her head up, "you're the one I love Ash. You know that. That's why I married you."

Ashley didn't respond. Instead she moved to take a seat on the couch. Shepard followed her and took a seat next to her.

"Come on Ash, talk to me. Did I do something to make you think otherwise?"

Ashley sighed, "it's just the way you acted after you realized it was Miranda who was in danger. The minute the chief mentioned her name, she was all you could think about. I figured it was just because she was a friend and you just wanted to help her but some of the stuff you did made me begin to wonder if it was more than that. You got pretty rough with the chief when you tried to get him to tell you where Toombs was. Then you snapped at me when I tried to calm you down. I know we've had some small arguments since we've been together but you never shouted at me like that before. You can't blame me if a part of me wondered if there was something between you."

Shepard reached over and took Ashley's hand, "I guess I can't. You always were a little jealous of her."

The remark caused Ashley to throw Shepard a mean glare that made him think she was going to slap him again. He let go of her hand and stepped back with his hands up in a surrender pose. Ashley had thrown him mean looks before but nothing like this. Shepard wondered if this was somehow connected to the strange way Ashley had been acting lately. He quickly decided that now was not the best time to figure it out as he needed to defuse this situation before it got worse.

"Well if I remember right you were pretty cold when she asked me to dance during our wedding reception."

Ashley turned away from Shepard and let out a huff as she crossed her arms, "if I was it was only because as long as I can remember she would always look at you funny whenever you two were together."

Thinking that it was safe to sit back on the couch, Shepard sat next to Ashley and put his arm around her.

"Look Ash, for the most part I was just worried about losing Miranda like we lost our other friends. But I will admit that while I care about all of my friends, Miranda is one I would say I was really close to. After all if it wasn't for her I wouldn't be here now. But I never considered her as anything more than a really good friend. But as you now know, Miranda didn't feel the same way. You see, it all started back during our mission against the Collectors."


	36. 4-7

**Sometime Between the Collectorship and Reaper IFF Missions of Mass Effect 2**

"My father got me the best genes money could buy. Guess it wasn't enough."

It didn't come as a surprise to Shepard that Miranda had brought up her genetic tailoring again. The way the conversation they had been having was going, it was only a matter of time before she did. He had stopped by Miranda's XO quarters to have a one-on-one chat with her. It was something he made an effort to do with all of his squadmates in order to build a friendly rapport they could take into battle together. This particular conversation started off with Miranda apologizing to Shepard for the initial doubt she had made no effort to hide regarding Shepard's ability to command their mission against the Collectors. She even commented that she wished that Cerberus had recruited Shepard sooner. Shepard silently wished that she wouldn't have said that. It made it seem like he was working for Cerberus, which was far from the truth. He took that moment to remind her that while he did trust her, he still didn't trust Cerberus because of what he saw in the Cerberus bases he shut down during his hunt for Saren. Unfortunately Miranda still wouldn't change her view on Cerberus. Shepard admired her loyalty but he wished that she would see she was putting it towards something terrible.

The conversation turned towards Miranda's genes when Shepard commented that the best thing Miranda's boss the Illusive Man had done was put her on his squad. After replying that Shepard would have done fine without her, Miranda admitted that she was beginning to believe she didn't have the fire Shepard had that made people willing to follow him into hell itself. It was a strange sight for Shepard to see Miranda doubting herself. He could only guess her doubts were made even stronger by the fact that her personal mission to rescue her sister Oriana had nearly failed because of the unexpected betrayal committed by her close friend Niket. From what Shepard could tell from Miranda's last statement, she was now starting to believe her father's attempts to make her perfect through genetic modification had failed. Shepard hated to see any of his friends like this and knew he needed to do something fast to build Miranda's spirits up. The best way he could think to do that was to find out what it was that really bothered her about her modifications.

"You always bring up your genetic tailoring," he said while he got up and moved behind Miranda who was gazing out her room's window, "it really bothers you doesn't it?"

"This is what I am Shepard," Miranda answered while she bowed her head somewhat ashamed, "I can't hide it. The intelligence, the looks even the biotics. He paid for all of that. Every one of your accomplishments is due to your skill. The only things I can take credit for are my mistakes."

Now it all made sense to Shepard. Miranda's doubts were coming from the fact that she credited her successes to her father because he gave her the skills she used to accomplish them. Considering how much she hated what her father did to her, having to give him credit for all she had accomplished with her life would definitely frustrate her. This was the opening Shepard was looking for to help Miranda get her confidence back.

"I can't admire your body or your mind?" he asked. "You give your father too much credit. Yeah he gave you gifts but you can be proud of what you've done with them."

Miranda's head slowly rose back up as she said with a slightly surprised tone, "oh, thank you."

Shepard smiled. His pep talk had worked. Miranda now understood that she was the one who was responsible for her successes, not just her mistakes. Convinced his work was done, he started to excuse himself. Before he could get a word out though, Miranda had turned to face him and spoke first.

"Perhaps I wouldn't mind if you admired my body," she teased.

The smile on Shepard's face vanished quickly and his facial color almost turned completely red with embarrassment. The conversation had taken a turn to somewhere he had no intention of taking it. While he did think Miranda was an attractive woman and he had grown to care for her as a friend, he couldn't take their relationship further than that because his heart longed for someone else, Operations Chief Ashley Williams. Miranda no doubt knew of the relationship Shepard had with Ashley before he had died and was brought back to life by Cerberus two years later. She was even there on Horizon when Shepard had met Ashley for the first time since his resurrection. The reunion was a less than happy one. Shepard tried to keep a straight face after they left Horizon but it was possible Miranda could tell that Ashley had broken his heart when she called him a traitor and chose not to join him on his mission. He figured that was why Miranda seemed to be pursuing him. As far as she and probably most of the Normandy crew knew, Shepard's relationship with Ashley was officially over.

Then Shepard's mood eventually improved. The crew thought it was because he was now focusing solely on the mission and putting what happened with Ashley out of his mind. The truth however was that Shepard had received a message from Ashley sometime after Horizon. In it she apologized for the things she had said to him and explained why she was initially hesitant to trust him. She wished him luck on his mission and asked him to stay alive. The email had given Shepard hope that there was still a chance for him and Ashley to be together and he was going to see to it that he survived his mission so that he could go back to her and try to pick up where they had left off. Unfortunately his decision to not tell anyone about the message was coming back to bite him as he now found himself in the awkward situation of having to turn down Miranda's advances so that he could do just that.

"I'm sorry," he stammered, "I didn't mean it that way. We need to stay professional. Keep our focus."

Miranda seemed surprised by Shepard's reply but responded with a professional tone, "yes, you're right. This is too important for anything to cause…friction. Thank you for coming by Commander."

Shepard felt as if he couldn't get out of Miranda's office fast enough. He took a breath to calm himself down once he was out of the room. While he wanted to believe that Miranda was being truthful when she agreed to keep their relationship strictly professional, a gut feeling told him that she took his rejection harder then she let on. When she thanked him for stopping by, she said it rather quickly like she too wanted Shepard to get out in a hurry. Shepard hoped that she wasn't in her office crying at that very moment. He wanted to go back in and tell her the truth but quickly decided against it. She probably didn't want to see him right then. Maybe he would talk to her later, or maybe he should stop visiting her for one-on-one chats. He didn't know. Deciding that there was nothing he could do about the situation now, Shepard walked away from Miranda's office to continue making his rounds.

* * *

**Shortly Before the Suicide Mission**

How many times had Shepard proofread the message? It was probably worth it though. If the mission through the Omega-4 Relay didn't go well, this was probably going to be his farewell message to Ashley. However he did his best to ensure it didn't come off as such.

Shepard felt bad that he was only now responding to Ashley's earlier message but finding time to sit down and send a response proved impossible with everything he needed to do to prepare for the final battle against the Collectors. Now the Collectors had forced his hand by abducting the entire Normandy crew minus Joker and his squadmates. Every minute the crew was in the Collectors' hands lowered the chances Shepard had of being able to find them alive. He needed to take the fight to the Collectors' homeworld now. Not even a warning from the Illusive Man that he should not launch the assault prematurely was going to stop him. The Normandy was fully upgraded and his squad was fully committed to the mission. As far as Shepard was concerned, the Normandy was as ready as it could ever be.

The only thing he had left to do before they hit the relay was to send his message to Ashley. After proofreading it one more time, he hit "send". He leaned back in his chair and breathed a relaxing sigh. There was nothing for him to do now but wait for Joker to let him know when they reached their destination. Most commanders would probably be going over their attack plan one more time but Shepard didn't see the point. Any plan he could come up with would probably get thrown out the window once they got to the Collector base and saw what they were actually dealing with. The only parts of the plan he could set in stone were his three experts. Kasumi would handle any tech obstacles that got in their way, Jack would be his go to person for anything that required biotic skills and, should the team need to split up during the mission, Garrus would be in charge of leading the second team. Other than that, there was nothing more Shepard could do until the mission began.

Shepard decided the best thing he could do was lie down and get some last minute rest. If he was going into hell itself, the more rested he could be the better. He got up from his chair and headed for the bed but was stopped when he heard a knock coming from his cabin door. This caused him to shake his head and let out a frustrated sigh. It always seemed to be when he didn't want to be disturbed that someone would either stop by or call him. He figured it was probably Garrus and Tali wanting to once again offer him a final drink together before the mission. When they made the initial offer, Shepard politely declined saying he wanted to be alone. Still he had to give his friends credit. They were always there for him, even when he didn't think he needed them. When he opened the door however, he was surprised to find that it was neither Garrus nor Tali who was waiting on the other side.

"Miranda?" he said, "is everything alright?"

Without waiting for Shepard to invite her in, Miranda entered the cabin and moved past Shepard towards the couch. She took a seat and didn't look up towards Shepard as she contemplated what to say. Shepard's concern grew as he joined Miranda on the couch. Finally Miranda locked eyes with Shepard and spoke.

"I can't do it Shepard."

"Can't do what?" Shepard replied.

"I know you said you wanted us to be professional for the sake of the mission but I can't do it. I care about you Shepard and I think I'm even falling in love with you. I could have been on this ship when the Collectors abducted the crew and the one thing I would have regretted was not telling you how I felt."

Shepard should have seen this coming. He hadn't talked with Miranda privately since he awkwardly left her office after their last conversation. Since then Miranda didn't show any signs that the conversation had a negative impact on her. Shepard assumed that she had taken his rejection better than he thought. Now here she was in his cabin saying she was falling for him. He tried to speak but was cut off when Miranda took his hands and continued.

"At first I didn't know what this was. It could have been just stress or me wanting to blow off steam. Eventually I couldn't deny what it really was anymore. Shepard, just because we're about to go on a suicide mission doesn't mean we can't be together. I know the odds of us coming out of this alive are slim and this may not seem like the best time for love but I don't care. I want to be with you."

She then leaned forward to kiss Shepard. Before her lips could reach his, Shepard let go of her hand and put a finger to her lips stopping her from coming closer.

"No," he said quietly, "I'm sorry Miranda but I can't. I do care about you but I'm not interested in you in that way."

"Why not?" Miranda asked confused. "Is it because I'm with Cerberus?"

"Of course not. It has nothing to do with you."

"Then why?"

Instead of answering right away, Shepard got up from the couch and gestured for Miranda to follow him to his desk. Once there, he turned on the picture frame sitting on the desk's corner. The frame lit up to reveal a picture of Ashley.

"It's because of her," Shepard said pointing to the picture.

"Chief Williams? I don't understand. She refused to help us and called you a traitor. Why would you still want to be with her after that?"

"I can't blame her for acting the way she did. I probably would've acted the same way if I thought the person I cared about was dead and then two years later they appear out of the blue with a group that I didn't trust. It certainly didn't help that your boss intentionally leaked word that I was working for Cerberus even though that was far from the truth. She had every reason to question if I was the same person she knew before. But I will admit that a part of me was heartbroken after what happened on Horizon and I thought I'd lost Ashley for good. Then she sent me an apologetic message and I realized there was still hope for us. If she didn't still have feelings for me she wouldn't have sent the message at all. I'm sorry Miranda but Ashley means a lot to me and if there is still a chance for us to be together when this is over, I have to take it."

Miranda bowed her head sadly. Shepard even thought he could see a tear forming in her eye.

"I see. I better go. I'm sorry to have bothered you."

She turned to leave the cabin when Shepard reached out to stop her, "you don't need to apologize Miranda. This is my fault. I should have told you the truth back when we talked in your quarters."

"No Shepard I should have seen the signs."

"Well nobody's perfect." Shepard said in attempt to cheer Miranda up.

He realized it worked when Miranda mustered a small smile, "I hope Chief Williams realizes how lucky she is to have someone like you who cares for her. And don't worry Shepard, this isn't going to affect how I do on the mission. I'll meet you on the bridge when we reach the relay."

With nothing more to say, Shepard walked Miranda out of his cabin. When he walked back in, he rubbed the back of his neck as he thought about how he should've handled the situation sooner. He was just grateful that it didn't end as bad as it could have. Miranda was a tough woman and he knew she was telling the truth when she said she was still going to bring her best to the final battle.

His attention then turned back to Ashley's picture on his desk. He moved back towards the desk and leaned forward resting his hands on the surface. For several seconds he stayed in that position just looking at the picture.

"I'll come back to you Ash," he thought, "I promise."

After taking a moment to crack his knuckles in an attempt to further pump him up for what was to come, he took one last look at Ashley's picture and turned to leave the cabin. Maybe Garrus and Tali would still be willing to have that drink.

* * *

_For the remainder of the Collector mission, Miranda and I maintained a professional working relationship and she didn't bring up her feelings for me again. After the mission was over, I didn't see her again until she first asked me to see her on the Citadel during the Reaper War. When I saw her, it seemed like she had moved on for the most part. Every time I met her on the Citadel, she didn't talk about anything except her sister Oriana and her growing concern that her father was working with the Illusive Man. I had no doubt that she knew you and I were still working out the kinks that were keeping us from getting back together so she had plenty of chances to try and make a move. But she never did._

_I got worried she was going to bring up her feelings again when I met her for the third time and she said she had something she needed to confess to me. Part of my worry came from the fact that I was pretty sure she was in the apartment that overlooked Apollo's when you and I had our date and saw us reconcile. I know she would never have rooted for us to not get back together but she did seem down when we talked. It turned out she wanted to talk about how she felt guilty for wanting to put a control chip in my brain during the Lazarus Project when she had spent the majority of her life fighting to free herself and Oriana from her father's control. Maybe it was her feelings for me that made her tell me that but now I think it was because she thought she wasn't going to get another chance to do so given how dangerous her personal quest was. Considering what we saw when we found her and Oriana on Horizon, she was right to be concerned. _

_The last time I saw her during the war was after our battle against my clone. She came to see my new apartment and later we met at the Silversun Casino for a friendly night on the town. It was a bit awkward for her as she didn't really know how to relax and enjoy herself but we still had fun and she seemed to have a great time during the party we had with the rest of the crew. Except all through that time and every time I saw her after the end of the war, I could see she was still hurting over the fact that she wished we could have been together. You said that you saw it yourself though I figured as much given all the jealous looks I saw you give her whenever she and I talked alone. She took it especially hard when I told her about our engagement. I was beginning to worry she was never going to get over me. Then, as you recall, we danced together during our wedding reception._

* * *

**The Night of Shepard and Ashley's Wedding**

Shepard and Ashley's wedding reception on the Normandy's crew deck had been in full swing for at least an hour. All of the guests were out on the dance floor enjoying the upbeat music. At least, they were enjoying it when they weren't too busy watching Shepard attempt to dance. Even Ashley, who probably should have been embarrassed that her newly wedded husband looked ridiculous, was getting a laugh out of watching Shepard.

"I think you're going to need a few more drinks before people will stop questioning why you dance the way you do," she laughed.

"If I did that then there's a good chance I might start stepping on your toes when we slow dance," Shepard shot back.

The playful smile on Ashley's face turned to a frown, "okay forget I said anything. You and I worked too hard to make sure you could at least slow dance well."

"I would say that based on the way the crowd applauded after our first dance that those lessons paid off."

"Yeah and now they're wondering how you could go from slow dancing gracefully to….this."

Their conversation stopped when they heard the current song stop and switch to a slow one. The guests around them were already starting to pair up for a slow dance. Shepard smiled and bowed to which Ashley curtsied in response. Shepard then reached out to take Ashley's hand when suddenly he heard someone clear their throat behind him. Before he could turn to see who it was, Shepard noticed that Ashley was looking at the person behind him with a mean look he had seen her give several times. As far as he knew, she only reserved it for him, her sisters and…..her. Sure enough when he turned around it was Miranda standing behind him. She was wearing the same red dress she wore during their get together at the Silversun Casino.

"Miranda," he said, "are you enjoying the reception?"

"Yes thank you," Miranda replied as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a credit chit, "I don't suppose you two are allowing the tradition of the credit dance?"

Miranda was referring to the wedding tradition of the money dance. The name was changed to the credit dance after credits became the chief form of currency in the galaxy. According to the tradition, wedding guests could pay for the chance to dance with the bride or groom. Sometimes the money would be used to either fund the couple's honeymoon or be used as extra cash for setting up housekeeping. The tradition had lost its popularity over the years but some weddings still observed it.

Shepard and Ashley had not explicitly said they were not allowing the credit dance at their reception. Even so neither one of them really wanted to dance with anyone else. Shepard especially had a feeling that even if they did, Miranda would be the last person Ashley would have wanted him dancing with. She made that point all too clear with what she said next.

"Sorry Miranda but MY husband's dance time is not for rent. You'll have to find another partner."

Normally Shepard would have scolded her for talking like that but he didn't want to ruin the happy atmosphere. He quickly pulled out the charm that he had used many times on criminals to get them to surrender peacefully.

"Now Ash," he said calmly, "there's no need to act like that.

Ashley was about to protest when Shepard held up his right hand to silence her and continued as he took Miranda's credit chit, "it's just one dance. I'll dance with her for this song and then I'm all yours and I'm not talking about just for the rest of the night." He then held up his left hand and pointed to his wedding ring. "You do remember what I promised when I put this ring on right?"

The tear forming in Ashley's eye told Shepard that he had made his point. The truth was she always hated the fact that she got jealous so easily but it was hard for her not to since Shepard was a legend and heartthrob to every woman of nearly every species across the galaxy. What she didn't think about when the jealously overtook her this time was that one thing she loved about Shepard was that he was a man of his word. He promised only a few hours ago during the ceremony that he would love and cherish her and her alone. She had no reason not to trust Shepard to be alone with Miranda for one dance. She gave Shepard a kiss and took the credit chit from his hand. Before turning to leave the dance floor, she smiled at Miranda as she put the credit chit back in her hand.

"Keep your credit Miranda," she said, "this one's on me."

Once Ashley was gone, Shepard took Miranda's hand and brought her in close and the two began to slow dance. They didn't say a word for a few seconds and then Shepard finally got the courage to ask Miranda the question that been on his mind since he saw her in the crowd during the ceremony.

"Are you ok Miranda?"

Miranda looked at him while trying to force a small smile but finally gave up and bowed her head sadly, "I would be lying if I said I was entirely okay with this. Don't get me wrong I'm happy for you and Ashley and I wish you both a long and happy marriage. But I know it also means that there is no hope for us anymore. Not that I was hoping for you and Ashley…"

"It's okay Miranda. You don't have to explain. I know how much you wanted us to be together but you have to move on. Ashley may be the one I chose to marry but you are still a friend that I care a great deal about. The last thing I want is for you to spend the rest of your life wondering what could have been."

Miranda nodded, "you're right Shepard. I can't promise that I will stop having feelings for you but I will promise that I won't let them run my life. I'll do my best to move on."

Shepard smiled, "I know you will. You've always been good at succeeding at whatever you put your mind to."

Finally a smile appeared on Miranda's face, "thank you Shepard. Now let's not talk about this anymore. The song will be over soon. Since this is likely the last time we will dance together, let's just savior this moment and then you can go back to your wife."

Shepard pulled Miranda in closer so that they were now dancing cheek to cheek. With no more words to say, they continued dancing until the song came to an end.


	37. 4-8

**Present Day**

"I thought she did move on," Shepard said as he was wrapping up his story, "instead it turned out her feelings for me were stronger than I had originally suspected. She never even said that she loved me until we found her at the biotic cure facility. When she asked me to kiss her, I initially refused to do it because I didn't want to risk hurting you. But aside from the fact that it was her last wish, I did it because I owe everything to Miranda. I wouldn't even be alive now if it wasn't for her. A kiss on the forehead was the least I could give to repay her."

"I'm so sorry Shepard," Ashley said as she took the hand Shepard had wrapped around her shoulder, "it sounds like you had a lot to take in down there and I certainly didn't help by getting jealous. I was wrong to get upset about the kiss. Like you said, you were just trying to grant a friend's last wish and there was no reason for me to be mad at your for that."

Shepard took a deep breath before he spoke again. Ashley seemed like she had calmed down while listening to his story. Now was as good a time as any to ask her the question that was currently bothering him. True there was a slight possibility that the question might set her off again but he couldn't avoid asking her forever.

"Ash," he began, "don't take this the wrong way but saying you got upset would be somewhat of an understatement. After I told you about the kiss, you slapped me and gave me probably the meanest glare you've ever given me. I realize kissing another woman is not something you would normally approve of me doing but you should know by now that you're the one I love and nothing will ever change that. My kissing Miranda on the forehead should not have gotten that kind of reaction from you. And it's not just the way you reacted to that which is bothering me. You have been acting strange the last few days. Is everything okay with you?"

Ashley slowly got up from the couch and moved towards the fish tank wall, "I'll admit that I probably overreacted a bit."

"Ash."

"Fine, I did overreact. But it was just one slip of jealousy. I'm fine. You don't need to look so hard into it."

"Please Ash," Shepard pleaded as he got behind Ashley and wrapped his arms around her, "don't brush me off anymore. I'm only bringing this up because I'm worried about you. I've been trying to give you the benefit of the doubt when you say that everything's fine but the strange behavior has been showing up more frequently since the morning this mission started. Ash whatever is going on, you can tell me. I just want to know that you're okay."

It was then that Shepard noticed Ashley's reflection on the fish tank. Though it wasn't a clear reflection, he thought he saw her lips quivering as tears began to form in her eyes. Suddenly Ashley turned around and embraced Shepard. This caused Shepard to nearly stumble back as he was caught off guard by the strength and sudden nature of Ashley's hug. As he got himself stabilized, he began to hear Ashley crying. If the sudden embrace had not already surprised him, the sudden emotional outburst would have for sure. Shepard did know that Ashley was not someone who tried to hold in her emotions but the fact that she was losing it now told him that whatever was going on with her was bothering her more than he originally thought. With no idea what to say next, he patted her reassuringly on the back while silently repeating "it's okay." Finally Ashley was able to calm herself down enough to speak.

"I don't know," she said, "I don't know what's going on and it's scaring me."

"Just start at the beginning," Shepard said as he led Ashley to take a seat at the foot of the bed, "maybe we can figure this out together."

Ashley sighed, "the last few days I've been having moments where I get hit with feelings of nausea. I thought maybe it was just something I ate disagreeing with me so I didn't give it much thought. Then on the morning we were having lunch with Garrus and Tali, the feeling got so strong that I almost threw up. I meant to have Dr. Chakwas give me a checkup when our leave was over just to be safe but then you heard about what happened to Kelly and that her killer worked for the mystery backer. I knew that you were going to want to go after them and I wanted to be with you when you did. So I decided to put the examination on hold because I didn't want to risk being sidelined for medical reasons."

"You were having one of those feelings on the shuttle ride to the facility weren't you?"

"Yes. I'm scared Shepard. I don't know what's wrong with me and with everything that's happening with the backer this is not the time for me to get sick."

Shepard took Ashley's hand, "well the first thing we need to do is take you down to the med bay so that Dr. Chakwas can take a look at you."

"But…"

"Ash you were the one that told me I had to take better care of myself when I was pushing my efforts to track the backer too hard. The same is true for you. I need everyone on my team to be in prime condition when we finally locate the backer so that we can handle whatever we might find. Now please don't hate me for saying this. I love you and I appreciate how much you want to help me, but if I have to pull rank to get you to see the doctor, I will."

Ashley smiled. She knew that Shepard would never actually follow through with his threat to pull rank. However that was because she knew he wouldn't have to. Simply making the threat was enough to convince her she should do what he suggested. She nodded in agreement.

Shepard smiled back. Still hand in hand with Ashley, they exited the cabin and entered the elevator to ride down to the crew deck. As the doors closed, Ashley started laughing at something she was thinking about.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"I was just thinking about how fortunate it was that I didn't go with you to Kelly's apartment."

"Why's that?"

"I know we talked about how there was no truth to the scuttlebutt that said you two had a date in your cabin. Even so, the fact that there was scuttlebutt at all made me a little jealous of her. Not as much as I was of Miranda but enough that I probably would have acted slightly immature."

The statement caused Shepard to chuckle. He thought back to the semi-awkward conversation he had with Ashley about the meal he had with Kelly. Fortunately it didn't take much for him to help her see that it was just a meal between two people who were getting to know each other as friends. It was still a slightly frustrating conversation but only because it wasn't the first time he had it. He already had to explain what really happened to most of the crew on the Normandy who asked about it.

Suddenly a thought entered Shepard's head and the smile on his face quickly vanished. Ashley noticed the smile disappear out of the corner of her eye and turned to face him. She was about to ask what was wrong when she realized that she had seen this particular face on Shepard before. It was one he would have when he was putting pieces together in his head and was on the verge of seeing the whole picture. His eyes then shot wide open when he did. He quickly hit the stop button before the elevator reached the crew deck. As he hit the button to send the elevator back up to the CIC deck, he looked up to speak towards the intercom in the elevator.

"Liara, are you and Garrus still in the War Room?"

"Yes," replied Liara's voice, "I was just about to call you. We found something that you need to see."

"Ashley and I are on our way now. I have something too."

"What is it?" Ashley asked after Liara signed off.

"I know who the backer is going after next."

* * *

Garrus and Liara were in the War Room waiting when Shepard and Ashley arrived. Before Shepard could say anything, he noticed that the Cerberus logo was being projected on the table in the center of the room. Next to the logo was a list of names. It was a long list but Shepard could make out that some of the names were crossed off. Garrus picked up on Shepard's confusion.

"This is what Liara and I wanted to talk to you about. On a hunch, we put a list together of known Cerberus employees who survived the Reaper War. Between the ones who are currently incarcerated and the ones who left the group before Cerberus' destruction, it's a long list. Even if you consider the number of troops that we killed during the war."

"Of the names we found," Liara joined in, "twenty of them have died since the war ended. They are the ones who are crossed off on the list. We were able to account the cause of death for all but three of them. Do any of these people look familiar to you?"

Liara punched a few keys and the Cerberus logo vanished and was replaced with pictures of three men. The first one Shepard instantly recognized as Dr. Wayne. Just as quickly, he was able to recognize the other two men and in their case it was not a good thing that he did. The names at the bottom confirmed that they were who he thought they were: Dr. Gavin Archer and General Oleg Petrovsky.

Dr. Archer was the head scientist of a Cerberus project call Project Overlord. The purpose of the project was to find a way to exploit the geth's religious impulses to help Cerberus control them. After a long stretch with no progress and with the Illusive Man threatening to shut the project down, Archer discovered that his autistic younger brother David could communicate with the geth thanks to his abilities as a mathematical savant. Archer then decided to merge his brother's mind with a VI that he had created to serve as an overlord of the geth. Despite the potential risk to his brother and not knowing for sure what would happen when the connection was made, Archer went ahead with the experiment. Unfortunately David's mind couldn't handle the merger and the VI went berserk. It then dispatched geth to eliminate the staff and tried to upload its program off planet. Thanks to Shepard's intervention, the VI was shut down before the upload could be completed and David was set free. When Shepard saw the horrific way Archer had treated his brother in order to conduct the experiment, he arranged for David to be sent to Grissom Academy for treatment despite both Archer and later the Illusive Man saying that taking David away would seriously set back research that could help humanity defeat the geth. The next time Shepard saw Archer after that was during the Reaper War when he helped rescue a group of scientists who defected from Cerberus. Archer was among the scientists. He explained to Shepard that he had left Cerberus after he refused to follow the Illusive Man's request to find someone to replace David so that the experiments could be continued. Shepard still hated Archer for what he did to David, but he was glad that Archer at least managed to finally see the error of his ways and was trying to make amends. After the rescue, Archer and other scientists volunteered to help with the construction of the Crucible.

As for General Petrovsky, he was a high ranking Cerberus operative and easily the Illusive Man's best military strategist. He was also the one in charge of the Cerberus takeover of Omega. Under his leadership, the station was run like a concentration camp. But the most horrific thing that Petrovsky and Cerberus had done was allowing the citizens of Omega to be turned into creatures called Adjutants that they hoped to turn into obedient soldiers. With help from Aria T'Loak, Nyreen Kandros and their respected forces, Shepard was able to liberate the station and capture Petrovsky. In exchange for asylum, Petrovsky agreed to tell the Alliance everything he knew about Cerberus activities and even helped locate a Cerberus base that the Alliance later destroyed.

Both men, along with Dr. Wayne were granted immunity from charges for their crimes and, last Shepard knew, they had been living comfortable lives. Now according to Liara's findings, all three men had died at some point during the two plus years since the Reaper War ended.

"What do we know about how they died?" Shepard asked.

Garrus answered, "Dr. Wayne and General Petrovsky both had protective details and they were in public places when they were killed by what authorities determined to be a sniper. Somehow the sniper was able to get into the protective perimeters, fire a perfect headshot and slip back out before anyone knew what happened."

"Does Toombs have the training needed to pull off kills like that?" asked Ashley.

Shepard nodded, "I've read his file. He's not as good as you, me or Garrus but he's more than capable with a sniper rifle. He also has a strong enough motive for going after them."

"That's what we thought," said Liara, "except we don't think he killed Dr. Archer. His cause of death is listed as the result of a brain hemorrhage he had while he slept."

A chill went up Shepard's spine when Liara mentioned the hemorrhage, "were any pictures taken of the body?"

Liara nodded and pushed a few buttons to make the men's' pictures disappear. They were then replaced with a series of images showing Dr. Archer dead in his bed. Shepard was particularly interested in the close ups of Archer's face. The expression on his face was eerily similar to the one that he saw on Kelly's back at her apartment.

"Luciana?" Ashley asked Shepard.

"Without a doubt," he replied.

"But why would she help kill him? She said that everything her employer has done has been about hurting you. From what you've told me about Dr. Archer, he's not someone you would have shed a tear over losing so there was no reason for them to target him."

"You all listened to my call with Samara about Luciana. According to her, Luciana is a vigilante. If she found out what Archer did on Project Overlord she would see him as a criminal that needed punishing. Besides that, I believe she and the backer agreed to kill Archer and helped Toombs kill the other two as a means to secure his loyalty. In exchange for helping with his goals, he would help them with theirs in return."

"Also," said Garrus, "some of our friends they've been killing used to work for Cerberus. That certainly gives Toombs more incentive to help them."

"Shepard," Liara said, "we should probably contact Jacob and Brynn. They would be the next logical target for Toombs and Luciana to go after."

Shepard shook his head, "No they wouldn't. That's what I was coming up to tell you. It's true that the last two people they've killed both used to work for Cerberus but that's not the only thing they have in common. Miranda had feelings for me and there were rumors going around the Normandy that Kelly and I had a 'date' in my cabin during the Collector mission."

Garrus and Liara both shared a look of confusion as they tried to figure out what Shepard was implying. However it was Ashley who made the connection first.

"They're going after women who either had or were rumored to have feelings for you."

"Exactly, the backer said in their message that this was all part of their endgame. Up until now the only thing that mattered was that the person they killed was a friend of mine. Now that they're reaching the end, just anyone is not going to be enough anymore. They want the friends I'm the closest to and whose death would hurt me the most. I may not have had romantic feelings for Kelly or Miranda but they both were what I would consider to be some of my closest friends. That made them the perfect targets for the backer's endgame."

Liara gasped, "if that's the case, then that would make Ashley and me potential targets. I did admit to having feelings for you during our mission against Saren."

"Except you and Ashley are here on the Normandy. Even if they did try to come after you here, the stealth systems would make it impossible for them to find us."

"But you said in the elevator that you knew who the backer would go after next," Ashley said as she crossed her arms and gave Shepard a questioning look, "so was there someone else that tried to make a move on you?"

"Settle down Ash, we've already talked about this. There's no need to get jealous. But yes. With you and Liara here on the Normandy, that leaves only one person left for the backer to go after. Like Miranda, she's someone who admitted to having feelings for me during the Collector Mission."

"You don't mean," Garrus interrupted.

Shepard somberly nodded to Garrus. The confirmation from Shepard's nod caused a fearful expression to appear on Garrus' face. He then ran straight for the exit to take him to the CIC. It then hit Ashley and Liara who Garrus was thinking about and their mouths dropped open in shock.

"Tali?!" they both said in unison.

* * *

Shepard, Ashley and Liara had joined Garrus in the CIC and were nervously pacing around Comm. Specialist Samantha Traynor's workstation. They had her trying to patch a call through to the quarian embassy on the Citadel. Unfortunately they were having trouble getting past the receptionist. Even after mentioning the call was regarding an urgent Spectre matter, the receptionist responded by putting them on hold. Three minutes later they were still listening to the hold music. Tired from pacing, Garrus took a seat on the steps leading to the galaxy map.

"She'll be fine Garrus," Shepard said in an attempt to calm Garrus' worries.

"I know," Garrus replied, "I just…I wonder if I should have stayed with her. You would have had no trouble reaching me and I would have been there to keep her safe."

"Garrus," Ashley said as she put a hand on his shoulder, "I understand your concern. I'm the same way whenever Shepard and I get separated on a mission. I was a nervous wreck on our last mission when he was trapped in Buckingham Palace while it was on fire. But the thing that helped me through it was the fact that I knew he would always find some way to beat the odds and survive. You and I both know that Tali's a survivor too. Once we give her the heads up about the backer's plan, she'll be able to take care of herself."

Garrus looked up at Ashley and nodded, "Thanks Ash. You're right. I guess it's just the waiting that's really bothering me."

"Shepard," said Liara, "if you don't mind me asking, what happened between you and Tali that would make her a target for the backer."

Shepard sighed as he thought about the moment in question, "during the Collector mission, I went down to visit her in engineering and she told me about how she was recovering from an infection she received during her personal mission. I started asking her about how rough it actually was for quarians living in their suits. According to her, the quarians' immune systems were so bad they had to be in their suits even among family. As a result, she said the only way they could show trust was by linking their suit environments. She told me I was the only one she knew who she would consider doing that with. I told her she wouldn't need to prove her loyalty in that way because I trusted her too but then she said the tradition of the gesture also signified willingness for intimacy. I realized she was implying that she had feelings for me. I told her that while I thought it was sweet she felt that way, I just didn't feel the same about her. I could have left it at that but I knew I owed her the whole story. So before we hit the Omega-4 Relay, I had a drink with her and Garrus. I used that opportunity to tell her that the reason I didn't feel the same way about her was because I wanted to try and get back together with Ash. She said that she understood as she was aware of our relationship back when we were on the original Normandy. Then she heard about the rough reunion we had on Horizon and thought along with the rest of the crew that we were done. She said if she had known otherwise she wouldn't have said anything about her feelings for me. Our discussion ended with her saying that she hoped things worked out for Ash and me and that we would be happy together."

"And since I was there when they talked about it," said Garrus, "that's why I knew about her having feelings for him once and realized she was the person Shepard was talking about. On the plus side, that conversation also told me that I didn't have to worry about Shepard being competition when Tali and I started dating."

Shepard chucked, "weren't you the one who said that everyone was always ignoring me and hitting on you. If anything you should have been competition for me."

The comment made Garrus laugh as well. Suddenly the holding music coming from Traynor's terminal stopped playing. Everyone froze where they were and anxiously held their breath as they waited to hear what they hoped would be Tali's voice. Unfortunately what they heard instead was a distorted voice.

"…..Hello Shepard."

While everyone else initially thought there was a problem with the comm., Shepard knew right away who it was they were listening to. He gently pushed Traynor to the side so that he could be in front of the terminal.

"You," he said sternly.

"Yes it's me," the distorted voice replied.

Shepard turned to face the rest of the group and nodded to terminal to silently tell them that the voice they were listening to was the mystery backer. Everyone exchanged concerned looks wondering how the backer hacked into their call. Wondering the same thing, Shepard continued the conversation by asking that very question.

"How did you tap into this call?

"I knew you would eventually figure out that Ambassador Tali'Zorah would be my next target. I arranged for me to be able to monitor all the embassies incoming calls so that I could intercept yours when it came. It's a good thing I did otherwise you would have been wasting your time waiting for someone to finally take your call only to tell you that the ambassador is not on the Citadel at moment."

"Where is she?" he asked as Garrus joined him at the terminal.

"Unfortunately she was recalled to Rannoch for some urgent business. But when she gets there, I can have my people give her any message you might have for her."

Garrus slammed his fist next to the terminal causing Shepard to jump, "you son of a bitch if you lay one finger on her, I will personally sign your death warrant."

"Oh, I'm sorry Detective Vakarian I didn't know you were listening in. I guess that means Commander Williams and Dr. T'Soni are listening as well. It's nice to finally meet you all. Well since you're listening in Detective, I want to ask you something. How come you weren't as eager to sign a death warrant for Shepard when he committed murder as you are for me?"

Garrus let out a frustrated sigh, "maybe because Shepard has never murdered anyone. As his friend I would know if he had."

"No Detective it's BECAUSE you're his friend that you refuse to believe that he could be a murderer. But by now you all know that the true purpose of everything I've done up to this point was to avenge the death of someone special to me, someone who died at Shepard's hands. Now believe me when I say I don't want to have my people kill the ambassador but because of how close she is to Shepard, she's the perfect target. However, as I told Shepard in my last message, I'm a fair individual. I know how much the ambassador means to you Detective so I want to give you the chance to save her. My people may have a head start on you but it is still possible for you and Shepard to get to Rannoch in time to stop them from killing her. You both just have to decide if you are willing to sacrifice ten innocent lives to do that."

"What are you talking about?" asked Shepard.

"Check out the Alliance News Network. Their reporting on a story that I think you should see."

Not wasting a second, Shepard ran over to his private terminal on the other side of the stairs leading to the galaxy map. Upon opening the main page for the Alliance News Network, he saw the story the backer was talking about at the top of the page. The headline read: DEVELOPING STORY: HOSTAGE SITUATION ON SHANXI." He hit the play button for the attached video just as the others were gathering around to watch.

"For those of you just tuning in, this is Diana Allers reporting outside the trade building on Shanxi. This location was to be the sight of a conference for ten of the wealthiest businessmen and women in Alliance space. An hour ago, it was learned that terrorists had infiltrated the building and taken everyone inside hostage. No demands have yet been made but when the authorities arrived, the terrorists released all but the ten conference attendees. We'll remain on scene and keep you apprised of any developments as they happen here on the Alliance News Network."

Shepard made his way back to Traynor's terminal after the video ended, "listen to me, I don't know who you are or who you think I murdered but this is getting out of hand. If you want me so badly, just tell me where you are and I will come to you. You don't need to involve Tali or those hostages."

"I'm afraid I have to disagree with you Shepard. As much as I am looking forward to when you and I finally meet, it's not time for that yet. Right now, the only thing you need to do is make a choice. Will you save the life of your friend or will you save the life of ten strangers? My people will be waiting for you at both locations. Once one location confirms your arrival, they will notify the other and my people there will…well you don't need me to finish. Once again, the ball is in your court Shepard. Choose wisely."

The line went dead shortly after the backer had finished speaking. Initially Shepard didn't say anything He just stood there staring at the blank screen on the terminal. Ashley, Garrus and Liara just watched him unsure of what to do or say. Finally Shepard moved back to his private terminal and looked at the news headline about the hostage situation. It was then that the others noticed that Shepard was breathing heavily. Each time he did, the breaths got quicker and louder. Before anyone had a chance to react, Shepard grabbed his terminal, yanked it free from its cords and let out an angry scream as he threw it towards the elevator. The scream caused the remaining personnel on the CIC deck to stop what they were doing and turn their attention to Shepard. They all nervously watched as Shepard kicked aside the smashed pieces of his terminal and entered the elevator to head up to his cabin.

* * *

MAKE A CHOICE:

Some dialogue will vary based on the choices you've made earlier in the story.

1.) If you've been following the story using the version where EDI died along with the geth after the Crucible was fired, simply click the next chapter button. (my personal canon choice)

2.) If you've been following the story using the version where EDI survives the Crucible being fired, click the chapter select button and skip to Chapter 39.


	38. 4-9 (Version 1)

All was quiet in the War Room. After Shepard's outburst in the CIC, Ashley, Garrus and Liara went back to the War Room in an attempt to see if they could find a solution to their current dilemma. None of them wanted to let Tali be killed but they knew they couldn't condemn ten innocent people to die in order to save her. Unfortunately not much planning was being done as they were all worried about how Shepard was doing.

"Should you go up and talk to him?" Liara asked Ashley.

Ashley shook her head, "not now. He just needs time."

"But we can't wait too long," said Garrus, "the longer we wait to do something, the lower our chances of saving Tali and the hostages."

"He knows that Garrus. This isn't the first time he's been in a situation like this."

"What do you mean?"

"We all know that there have been times where Shepard had to make a decision that could have resulted in the death of a friend. The thing is that's what is bothering him the most right now. The last few times he's been in this position, he did lose friends and now he might have to go through that again."

Garrus and Liara both bowed their heads somberly as they thought back to the times Ashley was refereeing to. The first was back on Virmire during their mission against Saren. Shepard had to leave their squadmate Lieutenant Kaiden Alenko to die in a nuclear blast so that he could save Ashley and the salarian troops she was assisting. He would later get into a similar position during the final moments of the Reaper War. He had been given three choices for how to use the Crucible to defeat the Reapers. The choice he ultimately made resulted in the death of all synthetic life, including the geth and his A.I. squadmate EDI. He wished he could have gone with either of the other options but they had too many unknowns that he was not willing to take chances with.

Ultimately though, the thing that bothered Shepard the most about those moments was he couldn't help wondering if he ultimately made the choices he did for selfish reasons. Did he sacrifice Kaiden because he didn't want to lose Ashley? Did he sacrifice the geth and EDI because it was the option that gave him a slim chance of surviving? It took time but he eventually was able to convince himself that he made what he considered to be the best choice at the time. Even so, the guilt over making choices that resulted in the deaths of friends still slightly lingered.

Garrus let out a frustrated sigh and rubbed the back of his neck, "Luciana wasn't kidding when she said the backer was going to make Shepard suffer."

"Indeed," Liara replied, "I just wish I knew what it is the backer thinks Shepard did to them. I'm not saying I believe Shepard murdered someone but that knowledge could help us identify who the backer is."

"For all we know Liara the backer is as insane as Luciana and Toombs are," said Ashley, "they're probably using Shepard as a surrogate for the real source of their problems. We do need to identify the backer but I doubt we're going to do that by looking into something that may not have happened at all. In any case, the thing we need to fully focus on is saving Tali and the hostages."

Suddenly, the door to the War Room opened revealing Shepard on the other side. To the relief of everyone in the room, there didn't seem to be any trace of the anger Shepard showed in the CIC. Shepard only took one step into the room and asked everyone to join him in the neighboring briefing room. When he turned to leave, the others quietly followed him into the briefing room and each took a spot at the table in the center. Shepard stood at one end, Ashley stood at the other, and Garrus and Liara each took one of the sides. Once everyone was settled, Shepard spoke.

"First off," he began, "I want to apologize for my outburst in the CIC. I let the backer get to me and I lost it for a minute."

"You don't need to apologize for that Shepard," said Liara, "we understand your frustration. We all feel the same way. Whatever you need, we're here to help."

Ashley and Garrus both nodded to affirm what Liara said.

"Thanks everyone. I've decided there is no way I'm going to let the backer take another friend from us. Nor do I have any intention of letting those hostages die. The backer said I'm supposed to choose one or the other but I'm not going to. We're going to save both."

"How are we going to do that?" asked Ashley.

"We're going to have to split up. While I was up in my cabin, I made arrangements with Councilor Hackett to send a cruiser to rendezvous with the Normandy. Half of us will take one of the Kodiak's to board the cruiser and head to Shanxi. The rest of us will stay with the Normandy and head to Rannoch. Upon arriving at our destinations, each team will take the Kodiak's to their target location. Since the shuttles are equipped with stealth technology similar to the Normandy's, we can reach the targets undetected. The rest of the plan depends on stealth and precision timing. It will be difficult but I know we can pull it off and save everyone."

"I volunteer to be on the team that goes to Rannoch," said Garrus.

"I figured you would Garrus."

"Shepard," said Ashley, "I think Liara and I should go to Shanxi and you should go with Garrus. That way we have one Spectre on each team. You never know if having someone with Spectre status might come in handy."

To Ashley's confusion, Liara seemed unsure about her suggestion. Liara then looked over to Shepard with questioning expression. Shepard held up his hand to in an attempt to wave off any questions she seemed to be about to ask. Ashley then looked to Garrus who seemed to be making every effort to avoid making eye contact with her.

"What is it?" Ashley asked.

"Well…" Liara started to say before noticing that Shepard was shaking his head. She then saw that Ashley's confused expression was now turning to one of impatience. She sighed as she decided that she was going to continue despite Shepard's warnings. "Forgive me Ashley, but are you sure that you're well enough to go on another mission?

Shepard hand smacked against his face as he continued shaking his head. Garrus took a step back from the table in anticipation for whatever explosion came next. And from the mean glare Ashley was giving Liara, an explosion was imminent. Liara held up her hands in a surrender gesture and continued.

"It's just that you didn't look well on the shuttle ride to the facility."

"I'M FINE!" Ashley said aggressively. "I told you and Garrus that it was just nerves! You don't need to worry about me."

"She's right Ashley," Shepard interrupted, "I actually had the same idea you did but then I realized we forgot to have you see the doctor regarding the way you've been feeling lately. Before I decide to let you come with us, I need you to see Dr. Chakwas so that she can determine if you're fit for duty."

"Shepard you can't be serious. Tali and those hostages need our help now. We don't have time to waste for me to get a checkup."

"You were willing to get a checkup a few minutes ago."

"That was before all of this started happening. I'll get it after Tali and the hostages are safe."

Shepard put his hands on the table and leaned forward as he spoke with a stern tone, "Commander Williams need I remind you that I'm the captain of this ship. If I say I need you to go and see the doctor, then you are going to go and see and the doctor."

Now both Garrus and Liara had nervously stepped back from the table. It was clear from the shock on Ashley's face that she couldn't believe Shepard had actually pulled rank on her. But instead of getting angry at Shepard, she looked like she was about to cry. Everyone else exchanged nervous glances as they waited for Ashley to give some kind of response.

"Permission to speak Captain," Ashley said while struggling to keep herself together.

Shepard almost denied her request immediately but then his eyes locked with Ashley's. Suddenly his stern expression disappeared. He knew that as Ashley's commanding officer he should be denying her request right then and closing the matter. But as Ashley's husband, he didn't like seeing her like this and didn't want to make it worse by cutting her off. He let out a frustrated sigh. He knew this was why the Alliance had strict rules against soldiers fraternizing with each other and would not normally allow married soldiers to serve in the same chain of command. If it wasn't for his and Ashley's record showing how well they worked together and their Spectre statuses, they probably wouldn't have been in this situation. Even so, he had no regrets about being able to work with Ashley.

"Granted," he finally replied.

"I know I said that I'm scared because I don't know what's wrong with me right now. But the only thing that scares me more is the thought of losing Tali. I meant what I said at the café when I said she is like a sister to me and you know how much it would destroy me if anything happened to my sisters. If my coming along on this mission can help us ensure that both she and the hostages survive, then I need to come along. I promise that I won't be a liability and I will get a checkup once the mission is over."

All eyes were now on Shepard as they waited for him to make a decision. Being in this position was an experience Shepard was all too used to being in. Throughout the entire Reaper War, people were always looking to him to decide the next course of action. This current decision he needed to make didn't have such far reaching consequences as the ones during the war but it was a tough one all the same.

On the one hand, Shepard didn't want to send Ashley into the field if she wasn't at her best. He had already lost too many people he cared about thanks to the backer and he didn't want Ashley to be the next one to be lost. On the other hand, he knew that Ashley would never forgive him for what might be considered as "overprotecting" her. One of the things Shepard loved about Ashley was how she handled herself in dangerous situations. He never had to worry about her when they were on missions together because he knew she was capable of taking care of herself. If he kept her out of the field, it might look like he was losing that trust.

Then Shepard realized that he was thinking like a husband. Innocent lives were hanging in the balance and he needed to be thinking like a soldier. While he would normally not allow someone under his command to go on missions if they're health was in question, for this one he was going to need all the help he could get. Besides he wasn't sending Ashley in alone. She would be with Liara who was one of the few people Shepard could trust Ashley's life with unconditionally. Shepard had made his decision.

"All right, you and Liara will head to Shanxi while I go to Rannoch with Garrus."

A small smile appeared on Ashley's face, "thanks skipper."

"I'm not finished," Shepard continued, "I'm also allowing you to take point on your part of the mission. If however at any point during the mission you feel uneasy, then Liara is to take charge. Am I clear?"

Ashley snapped to attention and saluted, "aye-aye Captain."

Shepard returned the salute and then turned to Garrus and Liara, "you two head down to the cargo bay and get your gear together. Ashley and I will go over the details of the plan and meet you down there. Crew dismissed."

Garrus and Liara nodded and left the briefing room. Shepard then began to push some buttons on the table and the glass wall behind him began to show a series of images. As he started to go over his plan for the rescue mission with Ashley, a part of him was silently hoping he had made the right decision.

* * *

It may not have been the Normandy, but Ashley knew that the SSV Shanghai would get her and Liara to Shanxi without much difficulty. While not much different from other cruisers, Ashley couldn't help but feel in awe being aboard it. She had heard the stories about what the Shanghai did for the colony on Uqbar during the Reaper War. The Reapers were about to reach the colony and the Shanghai was the closest ship that could assist. Unfortunately, being a cruiser, the ship couldn't land on the medium-gravity world. So the captain dispatched all the ship's shuttles to evacuate the colonists. Making an impressive 41 shuttle runs in a single hour, the Shanghai managed to evacuate the entire remaining population, leaving nothing for the Reapers except an empty colony that resembled a ghost town. Everyone in the Alliance knew of the heroics of the Shanghai and now Ashley was aboard it.

After saying their goodbyes to the Normandy crew, including a farewell kiss Ashley shared with Shepard, Ashley and Liara took one of the Normandy's shuttles to board the Shanghai. The ship's captain personally welcomed them aboard and took them to one of the ship's observation decks that had been cleared out for Ashley and Liara's use. Once they were settled in, Ashley and Liara began going over their plans for when they reached Shanxi.

According to the latest reports from the Alliance negotiators on the ground, the terrorists inside the trade center had finally reached out to them. Unfortunately the terrorists weren't interested in negotiating. All they said before hanging up was that the only ones who were allowed to approach the trade center were Captain Shepard and his crew. If they saw anyone else trying to get inside, the hostages would be killed. Other than that, there was nothing new to report since the last time the negotiators reported to Alliance command.

"What do we know about the hostages?" Ashley asked Liara as they were going over the reports.

"The ten hostages still in the building are the CEO's of major companies based in Alliance space," Liara replied, "they were on Shanxi to attend a conference hosted at the trade center. Among the companies represented are Nashan Stellar Dynamics, the Sirta Foundation, the Morrison Company and the Exogeni Corporation just to name a few. These people are essentially the ten wealthiest people in Alliance space. Their influence over their respected companies makes their survival essential. If these people die, their companies could take a long time to rebuild their organization structure and there's no telling what could happen to the Alliance economy as a result."

"Well we're going to make sure nothing happens to them."

"So what's the plan that you and Shepard worked out?"

"Basically once you and I get to the trade center, we're going to try to infiltrate the building undetected and locate the hostages. The hard part though is we have to reach the hostages without engaging the hostiles in any way."

Liara looked at Ashley like she was crazy, "that's going to be difficult. We have no idea how many hostiles there are between us and the hostages. There may be enough that it could be impossible to sneak past them all without attacking."

"If the hostiles are communicating with each other, they will notice if we take someone out. When that happens, they will know we're coming. As soon as they do, they will then call their people on Rannoch and we will have lost Tali. Shepard did say that this was going to require stealth and timing. While he and Garrus try to find the hostiles going after Tali, we need to get as close to the hostages as we can. Once Shepard gives us the signal that Tali's safe, we swoop in and save the hostages before the hostiles guarding them are told what happened on Rannoch."

"How will they signal us? They can't communicate with us via our comm. or omni-tools from across the galaxy."

"No but the comm. specialist here on the Shanghai will be using the ship's QECs (quantum-entanglement communicators) to communicate with Traynor on the Normandy. The two of them will help relay messages between us."

"I guess that will have to do."

Ashley was about to continue the briefing when a familiar feeling began to overtake her. She tried to press on but this one was stronger than the previous times she felt this way. Liara quickly picked up on Ashley's discomfort and raced to bring over a nearby waste basket. The basket barely reached Ashley before she threw up. Ashley then kept the basket close to her mouth in case it happened again. As she did, Liara helped her over to a couch to sit down. No sooner had Ashley sat down that she did indeed throw up again.

Liara shook her head and sighed as she watched, "Ashley you need to see a doctor. You're in no shape to go on this mission. It's going to be hard enough for us to sneak past the hostiles without the risk of you throwing up."

"No Liara it's fine," Ashley said as her nauseous feeling started to go away, "if I'm throwing up now then I'm sure I can get through the mission before it happens again."

"I'm sorry Ashley but I can't let you come. Shepard said I was to take charge if your health was in question. You're staying on the Shanghai and I'll get some of the marines on board to help me."

"Liara I'm not going to sit this one out. Besides, as much as I hate to say it, having the marines go with you is a bad idea. You and I are the only ones who know about everything that's at stake here. As far as the marines will be concerned, the only thing that matters is helping the hostages. Even if we told them about Tali, it's going to be hard to convince them to go with our plan. Like it or not Liara, you need me. Please."

Despite Ashley now looking at her with pleading eyes, Liara shook it off and started to head out of the observation room. However she stopped when she was in the doorway. From Ashley's point of view it looked like she was trying to move but something was holding her back. Finally Liara turned back to face Ashley.

"I'm going to regret this but I'll let you come and stay in charge," she said, "but I take charge the minute you feel sick."

"Thanks Liara," Ashley replied as she got up from the couch and went back to look at the reports, "now where were we?"

* * *

Down in the Normandy's cargo bay, Shepard and Garrus were in the armory picking out their weapons. As they did, Shepard was going over what he had learned regarding Tali's trip to Rannoch.

When he made the arrangements with Councilor Hackett for the Shanghai to transport Ashley and Liara's to Shanxi, Shepard had also asked him to tell Councilor Zaal'Koris to call him. He was not willing to try and navigate the quarian embassies phone chain again to call the councilor directly and knew Hackett would have an easier time getting through than he would. The reason for the request was because Shepard knew that if anybody could explain why Tali had been sent to Rannoch, it was him. He got the call shortly after he finished his call with Hackett and when Shepard had finished explaining the situation to him, Koris was understandably distraught and asked Shepard how he could help. He then told Shepard that Tali had been sent back to Rannoch to witness and give a speech at the opening of the Geth Memorial Park. Koris explained that his duties as councilor kept him from being able to go himself so he had asked Tali to go in his place. The last thing Shepard asked for was any documents that could show him the layout of the park and show any neighboring structures.

Koris then asked Shepard if he should call Rannoch and have them increase the security measures for the ceremony. As much as Shepard wanted to do that, he knew that the backer's forces could be alerted to the extra security and would then order the execution of the hostages at Shanxi. So he told Koris not to do anything. Despite some initial hesitation, Koris agreed saying that he owed Shepard for saving his life during the Reaper War and ending the quarians' conflict with the geth. He then wished Shepard luck and ended the call.

Now that they knew what Tali was doing on Rannoch, Shepard figured that the best time for the backer's forces to kill her would be during her speech. At that point, all they would need to do it was a trained sniper. Given the fact that Toombs alone had already been able to snipe two people and get away undetected, it would make him the best choice to do it. It was true Tali never worked for Cerberus but then again neither did Shepard. As with Shepard, all it would probably take for Toombs to be willing to kill Tali was the fact that she willingly worked with Cerberus on the Collector mission.

"So the plan is for us to do some counter-sniping?" Garrus asked as he was putting a thermal scope mod on his sniper rifle.

"Exactly," Shepard replied, "according to the documents Councilor Zaal'Koris sent me, there's an apartment building that will be behind Tali when she's giving her speech. That building offers us the best vantage point to see everything that is in front of Tali."

"What if the shooter decides to use the same building we are?"

"He won't. The building gives an ideal view for us but not for him. Tali will be speaking on a stage that they built in the park and it has a large backdrop directly behind her. Even from the top floor, the shooter would not be able to see over the backdrop making it impossible for him to line up a shot. He'll be in one of the buildings that face the front of the stage. All we need to do is find him and then we wait for the signal from Ashley and Liara that they've reached the hostages. We'll then take out the shooter and that will be their cue to save the hostages."

Garrus nodded to acknowledge the plan. By all accounts, it sounded like a simple plan. The only thing making it hard was the fact they had to time everything with Ashley and Liara's operation. It slightly bothered him that they wouldn't be able to take out the sniper as soon as they found him. Normally, once Garrus had his target in sight and the shot lined up, he would take the shot right then. He understood why they had to wait but while he would be having the shooter in his sight, they would have his fiancé in their sight. He quickly shook his head in an attempt to get the thought out of his mind. This caught Shepard's attention.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"No it's…." Garrus began to say before a thought cut him off. He sighed. If the thought he had about Tali earlier came back during the operation, he might be tempted to do something stupid and this mission could not afford that. To Shepard's surprise, Garrus stopped working on his rifle and set it down on the weapons bench.

"Shepard," he continued, "I want you to be the one doing the sniping."

"What?" Shepard asked confused.

"This mission is too important to risk my personal feelings getting in the way. You know the mission and you have the focus to see it through."

"Garrus you're the better shot between the two of us. It needs to be you."

It was hard to say for sure but Shepard could have sworn that Garrus then gave him what seemed to be the turian equivalent of a sly smile.

"I'd like to believe that Shepard," he said, "but you and I both know the only reason I beat you when we had our shooting match on the Citadel was because you missed that last shot on purpose."

Initially Shepard was surprised by Garrus' statement but then he chuckled. He remembered that day well. On one of their visits to the Citadel during the Reaper War, Garrus took Shepard up to the Presidium and challenged him to a shooting match so they could finally settle who the better shot was. When it was Shepard's last turn, he knew that he would be able to hit the target easily. However, he chose instead to miss the target deliberately to give Garrus a little confidence booster. Taking the loss was worth it to hear Garrus shout "I'M GARRUS VAKARIAN AND THIS IS NOW MY FAVORITE SPOT ON THE CITADEL!" Now the cat was apparently out of the bag and Garrus knew the truth.

Garrus continued, "in my opinion Shepard, you're the better shot between the two of us and that's why I'd rather it be you who takes the shot."

Shepard thought about it for a second and then nodded, "okay Garrus. If you want me to do it, I'll do it."

"Thanks Shepard."

At that moment, they heard Joker's voice over the ship's intercom, "bridge to Captain Shepard, we're approaching Rannoch."

That was Shepard and Garrus' cue to get ready to leave the Normandy. They gathered their gear together and headed for the waiting shuttle.

"Garrus," Shepard said while they loaded up their gear, "don't tell Ashley I said this but in my opinion you're the best shot that I know."

Garrus laughed and gave Shepard a playful shove as they stepped on board the shuttle.


	39. 4-9 (Version 2)

All was quiet in the War Room. After Shepard's outburst in the CIC, Ashley, Garrus and Liara went back to the War Room in an attempt to see if they could find a solution to their current dilemma. None of them wanted to let Tali be killed but they knew they couldn't condemn ten innocent people to die in order to save her. Unfortunately not much planning was being done as they were all worried about how Shepard was doing.

"Should you go up and talk to him?" Liara asked Ashley.

Ashley shook her head, "not now. He just needs time."

"But we can't wait too long," said Garrus, "the longer we wait to do something, the lower our chances of saving Tali and the hostages."

"He knows that Garrus. This isn't the first time he's been in a situation like this."

"What do you mean?"

"We all know that there have been times where Shepard had to make a decision that could have resulted in the death of a friend. The thing is that's what is bothering him the most right now. The last few times he's been in this position, he did lose friends and now he might have to go through that again."

Garrus and Liara both bowed their heads somberly as they thought back to the times Ashley was refereeing to. The first was back on Virmire during their mission against Saren. Shepard had to leave their squadmate Lieutenant Kaiden Alenko to die in a nuclear blast so that he could save Ashley and the salarian troops she was assisting. He would later get into a similar position during the final moments of the Reaper War. He had been given three choices for how to use the Crucible to defeat the Reapers. The choice he ultimately made did destroy the Reapers, but he was told that it would also result in the death of all synthetic life. Meaning his allies the geth and A.I. squadmate EDI would be killed as well. As much as he didn't want to sacrifice EDI, the other two options had so many unknown and seemed too risky to pick. To his relief, he later discovered that EDI had found a way to survive the Crucible's blast. Sadly the geth were still wiped out along with the Reapers. Shepard may not have ended up losing a friend that day but the fact he was partially responsible wiping out an entire race of allies didn't make him feel entirely happy with his choice.

Ultimately though, the thing that bothered Shepard the most about those moments was he couldn't help wondering if he had actually made the choices he did for selfish reasons. Did he sacrifice Kaiden because he didn't want to lose Ashley? Did he sacrifice the geth and almost end up sacrificing EDI because the option was the only one that gave him a slim chance of surviving? It took time but he eventually was able to convince himself that he made what he considered to be the best choice at the time. Even so, the guilt over making choices that resulted in the deaths of friends and allies still slightly lingered.

Garrus let out a frustrated sigh and rubbed the back of his neck, "Luciana wasn't kidding when she said the backer was going to make Shepard suffer."

"Indeed," Liara replied, "I just wish I knew what it is the backer thinks Shepard did to them. I'm not saying I believe Shepard murdered someone but that knowledge could help us identify who the backer is."

"For all we know Liara the backer is as insane as Luciana and Toombs are," said Ashley, "they're probably using Shepard as a surrogate for the real source of their problems. We do need to identify the backer but I doubt we're going to do that by looking into something that may not have happened at all. In any case, the thing we need to fully focus on is saving Tali and the hostages."

Suddenly, the door to the War Room opened revealing Shepard on the other side. To the relief of everyone in the room, there didn't seem to be any trace of the anger Shepard showed in the CIC. Shepard only took one step into the room and asked everyone to join him in the neighboring briefing room. When he turned to leave, the others quietly followed him into the briefing room and each took a spot at the table in the center. Shepard stood at one end, Ashley stood at the other, and Garrus and Liara each took one of the sides. Once everyone was settled, Shepard spoke.

"First off," he began, "I want to apologize for my outburst in the CIC. I let the backer get to me and I lost it for a minute."

"You don't need to apologize for that Shepard," said Liara, "we understand your frustration. We all feel the same way. Whatever you need, we're here to help."

Ashley and Garrus both nodded to affirm what Liara said.

"Thanks everyone. I've decided there is no way I'm going to let the backer take another friend from us. Nor do I have any intention of letting those hostages die. The backer said I'm supposed to choose one or the other but I'm not going to. We're going to save both."

"How are we going to do that?" asked Ashley.

"We're going to have to split up. While I was up in my cabin, I made arrangements with Councilor Hackett to send a cruiser to rendezvous with the Normandy. Half of us will take one of the Kodiak's to board the cruiser and head to Shanxi. The rest of us will stay with the Normandy and head to Rannoch. Upon arriving at our destinations, each team will take the Kodiak's to their target location. Since the shuttles are equipped with stealth technology similar to the Normandy's, we can reach the targets undetected. The rest of the plan depends on stealth and precision timing. It will be difficult but I know we can pull it off and save everyone."

"I volunteer to be on the team that goes to Rannoch," said Garrus.

"I figured you would Garrus."

"Shepard," said Ashley, "I think Liara and I should go to Shanxi and you should go with Garrus. That way we have one Spectre on each team. You never know if having someone with Spectre status might come in handy."

To Ashley's confusion, Liara seemed unsure about her suggestion. Liara then looked over to Shepard with questioning expression. Shepard held up his hand to in an attempt to wave off any questions she seemed to be about to ask. Ashley then looked to Garrus who seemed to be making every effort to avoid making eye contact with her.

"What is it?" Ashley asked.

"Well…" Liara started to say before noticing that Shepard was shaking his head. She then saw that Ashley's confused expression was now turning to one of impatience. She sighed as she decided that she was going to continue despite Shepard's warnings. "Forgive me Ashley, but are you sure that you're well enough to go on another mission?

Shepard hand smacked against his face as he continued shaking his head. Garrus took a step back from the table in anticipation for whatever explosion came next. And from the mean glare Ashley was giving Liara, an explosion was imminent. Liara held up her hands in a surrender gesture and continued.

"It's just that you didn't look well on the shuttle ride to the facility."

"I'M FINE!" Ashley said aggressively. "I told you and Garrus that it was just nerves! You don't need to worry about me."

"She's right Ashley," Shepard interrupted, "I actually had the same idea you did but then I realized we forgot to have you see the doctor regarding the way you've been feeling lately. Before I decide to let you come with us, I need you to see Dr. Chakwas so that she can determine if you're fit for duty."

"Shepard you can't be serious. Tali and those hostages need our help now. We don't have time to waste for me to get a checkup."

"You were willing to get a checkup a few minutes ago."

"That was before all of this started happening. I'll get it after Tali and the hostages are safe."

Shepard put his hands on the table and leaned forward as he spoke with a stern tone, "Commander Williams need I remind you that I'm the captain of this ship. If I say I need you to go and see the doctor, then you are going to go and see and the doctor."

Now both Garrus and Liara had nervously stepped back from the table. It was clear from the shock on Ashley's face that she couldn't believe Shepard had actually pulled rank on her. But instead of getting angry at Shepard, she looked like she was about to cry. Everyone else exchanged nervous glances as they waited for Ashley to give some kind of response.

"Permission to speak Captain," Ashley said while struggling to keep herself together.

Shepard almost denied her request immediately but then his eyes locked with Ashley's. Suddenly his stern expression disappeared. He knew that as Ashley's commanding officer he should be denying her request right then and closing the matter. But as Ashley's husband, he didn't like seeing her like this and didn't want to make it worse by cutting her off. He let out a frustrated sigh. He knew this was why the Alliance had strict rules against soldiers fraternizing with each other and would not normally allow married soldiers to serve in the same chain of command. If it wasn't for his and Ashley's record showing how well they worked together and their Spectre statuses, they probably wouldn't have been in this situation. Even so, he had no regrets about being able to work with Ashley.

"Granted," he finally replied.

"I know I said that I'm scared because I don't know what's wrong with me right now. But the only thing that scares me more is the thought of losing Tali. I meant what I said at the café when I said she is like a sister to me and you know how much it would destroy me if anything happened to my sisters. If my coming along on this mission can help us ensure that both she and the hostages survive, then I need to come along. I promise that I won't be a liability and I will get a checkup once the mission is over."

All eyes were now on Shepard as they waited for him to make a decision. Being in this position was an experience Shepard was all too used to being in. Throughout the entire Reaper War, people were always looking to him to decide the next course of action. This current decision he needed to make didn't have such far reaching consequences as the ones during the war but it was a tough one all the same.

On the one hand, Shepard didn't want to send Ashley into the field if she wasn't at her best. He had already lost too many people he cared about thanks to the backer and he didn't want Ashley to be the next one to be lost. On the other hand, he knew that Ashley would never forgive him for what might be considered as "overprotecting" her. One of the things Shepard loved about Ashley was how she handled herself in dangerous situations. He never had to worry about her when they were on missions together because he knew she was capable of taking care of herself. If he kept her out of the field, it might look like he was losing that trust.

Then Shepard realized that he was thinking like a husband. Innocent lives were hanging in the balance and he needed to be thinking like a soldier. While he would normally not allow someone under his command to go on missions if they're health was in question, for this one he was going to need all the help he could get. Besides he wasn't sending Ashley in alone. She would be with Liara who was one of the few people Shepard could trust Ashley's life with unconditionally. Shepard had made his decision.

"All right, you and Liara will head to Shanxi while I go to Rannoch with Garrus."

A small smile appeared on Ashley's face, "thanks skipper."

"I'm not finished," Shepard continued, "I'm also allowing you to take point on your part of the mission. If however at any point during the mission you feel uneasy, then Liara is to take charge. Am I clear?"

Ashley snapped to attention and saluted, "aye-aye Captain."

Shepard returned the salute and then turned to Garrus and Liara, "you two head down to the cargo bay and get your gear together. Ashley and I will go over the details of the plan and meet you down there. Crew dismissed."

Garrus and Liara nodded and left the briefing room. Shepard then began to push some buttons on the table and the glass wall behind him began to show a series of images. As he started to go over his plan for the rescue mission with Ashley, a part of him was silently hoping he had made the right decision.

* * *

It may not have been the Normandy, but Ashley knew that the SSV Shanghai would get her and Liara to Shanxi without much difficulty. While not much different from other cruisers, Ashley couldn't help but feel in awe being aboard it. She had heard the stories about what the Shanghai did for the colony on Uqbar during the Reaper War. The Reapers were about to reach the colony and the Shanghai was the closest ship that could assist. Unfortunately, being a cruiser, the ship couldn't land on the medium-gravity world. So the captain dispatched all the ship's shuttles to evacuate the colonists. Making an impressive 41 shuttle runs in a single hour, the Shanghai managed to evacuate the entire remaining population, leaving nothing for the Reapers except an empty colony that resembled a ghost town. Everyone in the Alliance knew of the heroics of the Shanghai and now Ashley was aboard it.

After saying their goodbyes to the Normandy crew, including a farewell kiss Ashley shared with Shepard, Ashley and Liara took one of the Normandy's shuttles to board the Shanghai. The ship's captain personally welcomed them aboard and took them to one of the ship's observation decks that had been cleared out for Ashley and Liara's use. Once they were settled in, Ashley and Liara began going over their plans for when they reached Shanxi.

According to the latest reports from the Alliance negotiators on the ground, the terrorists inside the trade center had finally reached out to them. Unfortunately the terrorists weren't interested in negotiating. All they said before hanging up was that the only ones who were allowed to approach the trade center were Captain Shepard and his crew. If they saw anyone else trying to get inside, the hostages would be killed. Other than that, there was nothing new to report since the last time the negotiators reported to Alliance command.

"What do we know about the hostages?" Ashley asked Liara as they were going over the reports.

"The ten hostages still in the building are the CEO's of major companies based in Alliance space," Liara replied, "they were on Shanxi to attend a conference hosted at the trade center. Among the companies represented are Nashan Stellar Dynamics, the Sirta Foundation, the Morrison Company and the Exogeni Corporation just to name a few. These people are essentially the ten wealthiest people in Alliance space. Their influence over their respected companies makes their survival essential. If these people die, their companies could take a long time to rebuild their organization structure and there's no telling what could happen to the Alliance economy as a result."

"Well we're going to make sure nothing happens to them."

"So what's the plan that you and Shepard worked out?"

"Basically once you and I get to the trade center, we're going to try to infiltrate the building undetected and locate the hostages. The hard part though is we have to reach the hostages without engaging the hostiles in any way."

Liara looked at Ashley like she was crazy, "that's going to be difficult. We have no idea how many hostiles there are between us and the hostages. There may be enough that it could be impossible to sneak past them all without attacking."

"If the hostiles are communicating with each other, they will notice if we take someone out. When that happens, they will know we're coming. As soon as they do, they will then call their people on Rannoch and we will have lost Tali. Shepard did say that this was going to require stealth and timing. While he and Garrus try to find the hostiles going after Tali, we need to get as close to the hostages as we can. Once Shepard gives us the signal that Tali's safe, we swoop in and save the hostages before the hostiles guarding them are told what happened on Rannoch."

"How will they signal us? They can't communicate with us via our comm. or omni-tools from across the galaxy."

"No but the comm. specialist here on the Shanghai will be using the ship's QECs (quantum-entanglement communicators) to communicate with Traynor on the Normandy. The two of them will help relay messages between us."

"I guess that will have to do."

Ashley was about to continue the briefing when a familiar feeling began to overtake her. She tried to press on but this one was stronger than the previous times she felt this way. Liara quickly picked up on Ashley's discomfort and raced to bring over a nearby waste basket. The basket barely reached Ashley before she threw up. Ashley then kept the basket close to her mouth in case it happened again. As she did, Liara helped her over to a couch to sit down. No sooner had Ashley sat down that she did indeed throw up again.

Liara shook her head and sighed as she watched, "Ashley you need to see a doctor. You're in no shape to go on this mission. It's going to be hard enough for us to sneak past the hostiles without the risk of you throwing up."

"No Liara it's fine," Ashley said as her nauseous feeling started to go away, "if I'm throwing up now then I'm sure I can get through the mission before it happens again."

"I'm sorry Ashley but I can't let you come. Shepard said I was to take charge if your health was in question. You're staying on the Shanghai and I'll get some of the marines on board to help me."

"Liara I'm not going to sit this one out. Besides, as much as I hate to say it, having the marines go with you is a bad idea. You and I are the only ones who know about everything that's at stake here. As far as the marines will be concerned, the only thing that matters is helping the hostages. Even if we told them about Tali, it's going to be hard to convince them to go with our plan. Like it or not Liara, you need me. Please."

Despite Ashley now looking at her with pleading eyes, Liara shook it off and started to head out of the observation room. However she stopped when she was in the doorway. From Ashley's point of view it looked like she was trying to move but something was holding her back. Finally Liara turned back to face Ashley.

"I'm going to regret this but I'll let you come and stay in charge," she said, "but I take charge the minute you feel sick."

"Thanks Liara," Ashley replied as she got up from the couch and went back to look at the reports, "now where were we?"

* * *

Down in the Normandy's cargo bay, Shepard and Garrus were in the armory picking out their weapons. As they did, Shepard was going over what he had learned regarding Tali's trip to Rannoch.

When he made the arrangements with Councilor Hackett for the Shanghai to transport Ashley and Liara's to Shanxi, Shepard had also asked him to tell Councilor Zaal'Koris to call him. He was not willing to try and navigate the quarian embassies phone chain again to call the councilor directly and knew Hackett would have an easier time getting through than he would. The reason for the request was because Shepard knew that if anybody could explain why Tali had been sent to Rannoch, it was him. He got the call shortly after he finished his call with Hackett and when Shepard had finished explaining the situation to him, Koris was understandably distraught and asked Shepard how he could help. He then told Shepard that Tali had been sent back to Rannoch to witness and give a speech at the opening of the Geth Memorial Park. Koris explained that his duties as councilor kept him from being able to go himself so he had asked Tali to go in his place. The last thing Shepard asked for was any documents that could show him the layout of the park and show any neighboring structures.

Koris then asked Shepard if he should call Rannoch and have them increase the security measures for the ceremony. As much as Shepard wanted to do that, he knew that the backer's forces could be alerted to the extra security and would then order the execution of the hostages at Shanxi. So he told Koris not to do anything. Despite some initial hesitation, Koris agreed saying that he owed Shepard for saving his life during the Reaper War and ending the quarians' conflict with the geth. He then wished Shepard luck and ended the call.

Now that they knew what Tali was doing on Rannoch, Shepard figured that the best time for the backer's forces to kill her would be during her speech. At that point, all they would need to do it was a trained sniper. Given the fact that Toombs alone had already been able to snipe two people and get away undetected, it would make him the best choice to do it. It was true Tali never worked for Cerberus but then again neither did Shepard. As with Shepard, all it would probably take for Toombs to be willing to kill Tali was the fact that she willingly worked with Cerberus on the Collector mission.

"So the plan is for us to do some counter-sniping?" Garrus asked as he was putting a thermal scope mod on his sniper rifle.

"Exactly," Shepard replied, "according to the documents Councilor Zaal'Koris sent me, there's an apartment building that will be behind Tali when she's giving her speech. That building offers us the best vantage point to see everything that is in front of Tali."

"What if the shooter decides to use the same building we are?"

"He won't. The building gives an ideal view for us but not for him. Tali will be speaking on a stage that they built in the park and it has a large backdrop directly behind her. Even from the top floor, the shooter would not be able to see over the backdrop making it impossible for him to line up a shot. He'll be in one of the buildings that face the front of the stage. All we need to do is find him and then we wait for the signal from Ashley and Liara that they've reached the hostages. We'll then take out the shooter and that will be their cue to save the hostages."

Garrus nodded to acknowledge the plan. By all accounts, it sounded like a simple plan. The only thing making it hard was the fact they had to time everything with Ashley and Liara's operation. It slightly bothered him that they wouldn't be able to take out the sniper as soon as they found him. Normally, once Garrus had his target in sight and the shot lined up, he would take the shot right then. He understood why they had to wait but while he would be having the shooter in his sight, they would have his fiancé in their sight. He quickly shook his head in an attempt to get the thought out of his mind. This caught Shepard's attention.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"No it's…." Garrus began to say before a thought cut him off. He sighed. If the thought he had about Tali earlier came back during the operation, he might be tempted to do something stupid and this mission could not afford that. To Shepard's surprise, Garrus stopped working on his rifle and set it down on the weapons bench.

"Shepard," he continued, "I want you to be the one doing the sniping."

"What?" Shepard asked confused.

"This mission is too important to risk my personal feelings getting in the way. You know the mission and you have the focus to see it through."

"Garrus you're the better shot between the two of us. It needs to be you."

It was hard to say for sure but Shepard could have sworn that Garrus then gave him what seemed to be the turian equivalent of a sly smile.

"I'd like to believe that Shepard," he said, "but you and I both know the only reason I beat you when we had our shooting match on the Citadel was because you missed that last shot on purpose."

Initially Shepard was surprised by Garrus' statement but then he chuckled. He remembered that day well. On one of their visits to the Citadel during the Reaper War, Garrus took Shepard up to the Presidium and challenged him to a shooting match so they could finally settle who the better shot was. When it was Shepard's last turn, he knew that he would be able to hit the target easily. However, he chose instead to miss the target deliberately to give Garrus a little confidence booster. Taking the loss was worth it to hear Garrus shout "I'M GARRUS VAKARIAN AND THIS IS NOW MY FAVORITE SPOT ON THE CITADEL!" Now the cat was apparently out of the bag and Garrus knew the truth.

Garrus continued, "in my opinion Shepard, you're the better shot between the two of us and that's why I'd rather it be you who takes the shot."

Shepard thought about it for a second and then nodded, "okay Garrus. If you want me to do it, I'll do it."

"Thanks Shepard."

At that moment, they heard Joker's voice over the ship's intercom, "bridge to Captain Shepard, we're approaching Rannoch."

That was Shepard and Garrus' cue to get ready to leave the Normandy. They gathered their gear together and headed for the waiting shuttle.

"Garrus," Shepard said while they loaded up their gear, "don't tell Ashley I said this but in my opinion you're the best shot that I know."

Garrus laughed and gave Shepard a playful shove as they stepped on board the shuttle.


	40. 4-10

If there was one thing that Shepard didn't like when it came to being part of a sniper team, it was the waiting. He and Garrus arrived at the apartment building that they were going to use as their sniping post about two hours ago. Thanks to Shepard's Spectre status, the two were able to get a vacant room at no charge. Once they entered the room and finished setting up Shepard's rifle at one of the room's windows, they spent the rest of the two hours monitoring the activity on the memorial park's stage below and the weather conditions. Despite everything that had happened to Shepard in the past, it was agreed between him and Garrus that the past two hours were easily the longest of their lives.

It was during one of Garrus' turns on watch that the first guests of the dedication ceremony began to arrive. This was the moment they were waiting for. Garrus called Shepard over to the window to take his position behind the rifle. The growing crowd meant that Tali would be arriving shortly and the shooter they were looking for would be getting ready as well. Once Shepard was in position, Garrus began putting some finishing touches on the disguise that he and Shepard picked up. A quarian he was not but with the right accessories added to his formal wear, he could pass for one from a distance…and from behind.

On the shuttle ride to Rannoch, Shepard explained to Garrus that Ashley had given him an idea for a worst case scenario plan. While Shepard would remain in the apartment looking for the shooter, Garrus would be down in the crowd during the ceremony. From there, he would be using his omni-tool to continue to monitor the weather and alert Shepard of any sudden changes. The main reason for Garrus being in the crowd however was it would allow him to be able to rush onto the stage and get Tali to cover if it was looking like Shepard might not find the shooter in time.

"Are you sure this will work Shepard?" Garrus asked.

"Trust me Garrus," Shepard replied, "once you're seated amongst the crowd, you'll blend right in. Do you have the ticket Councilor Koris got for you?"

Garrus patted one of his pockets, "yeah. I'll be seated in the front row and near the steps that lead onto the stage."

"Good. Now remember, if I haven't called to tell you that the shooter has been taken out before Tali is about to finish her speech…"

"…then I need to charge the stage and get Tali to safety as soon as possible. Don't worry Shepard, I know the plan."

"I know. It just never hurts to go through it again. Hopefully then the next time I talk to you is after I've taken out the sniper and not after you've had to rush Tali off the stage."

"Thanks for letting me do this Shepard."

"You bet Garrus," Shepard said as he looked out the window, "you better get going. It looks like the bulk of the crowd is starting to arrive. With that many people it should be easy for you to get in without attracting too much attention."

Garrus nodded and exited the apartment. Now alone in the room, Shepard looked through his rifle's scope and began what was probably going to be a long search through the windows of all the park's neighboring buildings. The shooter was no doubt in one of them right now waiting for Tali to arrive so he could line up his shot. To slightly improve his chances of finding the shooter quickly, Shepard's rifle was equipped with a thermal scope. This allowed Shepard to only focus on any windows that had heat signatures in them. Unfortunately Shepard knew he would probably see plenty of heat signatures as many quarians would be watching the ceremony from their windows.

(BEEP)

The sound of Shepard's comm. beeping briefly took his attention away from his scope. He tapped his ear to answer the incoming call and was greeted by Traynor's voice.

"I just received word from Specialist Hawkins on the Shanghai," she said, "Commander Williams and Liara are on Shanxi and about to begin infiltrating the trade center."

"Copy that," Shepard replied, "Garrus and I are in our positions and the ceremony is going to be beginning shortly."

"Do you have any final instructions you want me to relay to Commander Williams?"

"Just remind her that once I call to say that Tali's speech has begun, they will have an hour at most to reach the hostages."

"Understood Captain, Normandy out."

Once Traynor signed off, Shepard took a quick glance down into the crowd trying to see if Garrus was now among them. To his surprise he was having a hard time finding him. Then he noticed a masked quarian heading for what he believed to be Garrus' seat. Upon closer inspection, he realized that the masked quarian was Garrus. Shepard didn't know that Garrus was going to wear a mask but he smiled when he realized the cleverness behind him doing it. Tali had no idea that Garrus was going to be in the crowd. If she were to notice him in the front row, the shooter might catch her surprise and figure out that he was there. Fortunately there were still some quarians who needed to wear their masks so no one would be asking Garrus why he was wearing one.

Shepard then resumed scanning the windows in his search for the shooter. As he searched, he thought about how slowly but surely his plan was coming together. All he had to do now was find the shooter and wait for Ashley and Liara to locate the hostages. Hopefully the hour they had to do it would be enough.

Suddenly the crowd below erupted into a loud cheer. Shepard glanced down and saw why. The skycar convoy carrying Tali had arrived and she was now stepping out of her vehicle. Her unmasked face smiled as she waved to the crowd and made her way onto the stage. Once she was on the stage, the backdrop blocked her from Shepard's view. The crowd's cheering then began to die down indicating that Tali was probably quieting the crowd so that she could begin speaking. Shepard quickly called Traynor telling her to inform Ashley that the speech had begun. After receiving a confirmation from Traynor that Ashley had received the message, Shepard went back to scanning the windows. The final countdown had begun.

* * *

A green light lit up the interior of Ashley and Liara's shuttle. The shuttle's doors opened and they each threw a rope out each one. They then grabbed hold of their rope and fast roped down onto the roof of the trade center. Secretly Ashley was relieved she and Liara didn't have to do a HALO jump like she and Shepard did at Buckingham Palace. Not because she didn't enjoy it. In fact that jump helped her see why Shepard had always enjoyed skydiving. The reason she was glad to not be doing the HALO this time was because she doubted it would be good for her given the way she had been feeling lately.

Once the shuttle had left after dropping them off, everything became quiet again. Just the way they wanted it to be. Silence meant that no one inside was aware of their arrival. The silence was briefly interrupted by a quick call from Specialist Hawkins. He had just received word from the Normandy that Tali's speech was about to begin. Ashley and Liara shared a look of concern as they checked their omni-tools for the time. With Tali's speech beginning, their time limit to complete the mission had shortened significantly. They acknowledged the message, quickly raised their weapons and entered the building through the rooftop access hatch. The hatch took them into what appeared to be a maintenance room. Littered across the walls of the rooms were all kinds of electrical panels. Liara smiled as an idea came to her. She opened the panel labeled "CAMERA ACCESS" and pulled up her omni-tool.

"Won't the terrorists see that we're hacking into the cameras?" Ashley asked.

Liara shook her head, "I have a special program that allows me to hack into any kind of security undetected. I wouldn't be a good Shadow Broker if everyone knew I was watching them."

Ashley looked at Liara with a slightly concerned expression, "you don't secretly spy on Shepard and me, do you?"

"Fortunately I have a strict moral code that prohibits me from spying on friends," Liara said before giving Ashley a sly smile, "well that and Shepard took out all the cameras that Cerberus put in the captain's cabin on the Normandy."

The chime on Liara's omni-tool told her that the hack had worked. She then quickly used it to pull up the newly acquired surveillance images. With Ashley looking over her shoulder, they scanned through all the images to get a better idea of what awaited them throughout the rest of the trade center.

By their count, there were a total of twenty-five hostiles patrolling the building. Eight of them were divided into teams of two to cover the four access points to the building. Since Ashley and Liara were already in the building, they didn't need to worry about them until it was time to get the hostages out. It was the remaining hostiles they were going to have to worry about.

Five of them were in the conference room guarding the hostages. The hostages were seated around the conference table with their hands tied behind their chairs. Ashley and Liara's eyes quickly focused on the one who seemed to be the leader. It was none other than Luciana. There was no sign of Toombs so they figured Shepard was right about him being on Rannoch. It didn't matter to them though. They knew either Shepard or Garrus would take care of him. The real question was which one of them was going to get the privilege of taking down Luciana.

Shifting their focus back to the rest of the images, they saw that the remaining twelve hostiles were patrolling the trading floor. The layout reminded Ashley of pictures she had seen of the stock exchange floor in New York City. It certainly had plenty of cover for her and Liara to hide behind. The problem was with twelve people patrolling it, getting from cover to cover without being seen was going to be difficult.

"I think you were right Liara," she said, "there's no way we're getting through without engaging anyone."

Liara didn't respond as she was focused on something her omni-tool was projecting. Whatever she saw made her look back up to the rooftop access hatch.

"According to these plans I pulled, there's an air vent that travels over the trading floor and into the conference room," she said, "it's probably too small for both of us to fit through but it would get one of us close enough to the hostages in time for Shepard's call."

"Good idea," Ashley replied, "the other person can try to get through the trading floor. One person would have an easier time getting through unseen than two. Do you want to go through the vents?"

"Actually I think you should."

"Why?"

"Are you able to hack into the computers on the trading floor to create diversions that may be needed?"

"I'll go through the vents," Ashley said as she made her way back to the rooftop ladder, "while I'm doing that, you take any calls from Traynor. We can't risk the hostiles hearing me talking in the vents so it's best if I don't have a reason to talk at all. As soon you get the signal that we are good to go, you tell me and I will take out Luciana and the other four guards in the conference room. Wherever you are at the time of the call, you start picking off hostiles from there and keep them from getting into the conference room. With you and me hitting them from two separate locations, they'll get confused and should lessen the danger for us and the hostages."

Liara nodded, "sounds like as good a plan as we're going to get. Good luck Ashley."

"You too."

With that said Ashley and Liara did a quick check that Ashley would be able to hear Liara over the comm. Ashley then continued climbing up to the roof leaving Liara in the maintenance room. Once Ashley was gone, Liara called to inform Traynor of their plan and that she would be taking all further communication between them. With her submachine gun raised, Liara did a quick peek out the door to ensure there were no hostiles outside. She then left the maintenance room and headed for the trading floor.

* * *

Ashley quickly realized that Liara wasn't kidding when she said the vents were too small for both of them to fit through. It was hard enough for her alone to fit into the vent even while lying down. At least the vents in Buckingham Palace were big enough for her to not need to crawl in order to move through them. It may not have been a long distance to the conference room but the crawling was going to make it take a while. Sadly it was going to be necessary to move slowly in order to ensure none of the hostiles below would hear her. With nowhere to go but forward, she began her crawl.

* * *

According to the clock on Liara's omni-tool, she and Ashley now had less than forty minutes to get in position. She felt she was going to need almost every minute of it to get through the trading floor that now stood before her. At that moment, the cameras were not showing any hostiles directly behind the door. As she began to push a button on her omni-tool, she silently hoped the hostiles weren't paying too close attention to the cameras. The button she pushed temporarily froze the feed of the camera watching the entrance she was coming through. She then entered the trade center and moved fast while crouched towards one of the booths. Once she was settled inside it, she unfroze the camera. No reactions from anyone else in the room told her that so far things were going well.

She was about to peek over the counter of the booth when she heard footsteps approaching. A quick peek at the cameras showed her that a hostile was indeed approaching her booth. With no means of escape, all she could do was press herself against the wall and hope the hostile didn't come close enough to the booth to see her. The hostile was inches from the booth before he stopped and turned to face away from the booth. Liara then used the opportunity to freeze the cameras again, sneak out of the booth and move on to another one further towards the center of the room.

Entering the trading floor was not easy but compared to what Liara still had left, it was a cakewalk. She was now in the area where the largest amount of hostiles was congregated. Hostiles were situated all around the booth at varying distances. Even the hostile she had just slipped by was now blocking the way she came. If she made any attempt to leave the booth, at least one hostile would spot her and alert the others. Now with no way to slip by without attracting attention, Liara now found herself needing to use the distraction method she mentioned to Ashley.

Using her omni-tool, she hacked into one of the terminals in the booth so that she could access the trade center's stock reports. Sure enough the market was still open even though there were no trades going on due to the crisis. She took one last peek to ensure no one was close enough to hear her speak and then patched a call through on her omni-tool. It took a minute but she smiled when her call was answered.

"Feron it's me," she said.

"Liara?" Feron replied, "I was wondering if you were going to call soon. Is there something I can do for you?"

"I'm trying to sneak through the Shanxi Trade Center's trading floor but I'm surrounded by hostiles. I can't afford to engage any of them so I need a diversion to help me be able to slip by unnoticed."

"I think I know just the thing. It will just take a minute so be ready to move. You'll know the diversion when you see it."

Liara quickly hung up her call and braced herself against the interior wall of the booth. For a few seconds, nothing happened. Suddenly several bell like sounds were heard over the intercom as a large screen along one of the walls lit up with a series of numbers. From what Liara could see, the numbers were showing a particular stock was climbing rapidly in value. Every hostile in the room had now turned towards the monitor. One of them even started cheering.

"You see! I told you that stock was going to be worth something someday!"

Nicely done Feron, Liara thought. With all the hostiles now looking away from her, she moved quickly and quietly out of the trading floor. Although she did have to hold in chuckle she nearly made after hearing the cheering hostile suddenly scream as his stock had apparently dropped in value just as quickly as it grew. As she closed the door behind her, she heard the hostile in charge yelling at everyone to get back to their patrols. She pulled up her omni-tool to send a message to Ashley and noticed her clock indicated that it only took her twenty minutes to get through the trading center. Not a bad time at all.

* * *

(DING DING DING)

Ashley nearly had a heart attack when a loud bell started sounding below her. At first she thought that an alarm of some kind had gone off. Then she composed herself enough to realize that the noise was giving her a brief period where she could crawl through the vents at a faster pace. She managed to get a few feet before the bell silenced. She wanted to call Liara to see if she was okay but she knew she couldn't risk letting the hostiles know she was in the vents. Fortunately Liara saved her the trouble and sent her a message. The contents of the message made her smile:

HOPE YOU LIKED THE DIVERSION. I JUST MADE IT OUT OF THE TRADING FLOOR AND WILL BE OUTSIDE THE CONFERENCE ROOM SHORTLY. SPECAILST HAWKINS IS LETTING SHEPARD KNOW THAT WE ARE IN POSITION. I'LL LET YOU KNOW WHEN HE GIVES US THE GO ORDER.

Based on where Ashley was in the vent, she figured that she was just about to leave the trading floor herself. She resumed crawling and soon found herself at the vent cover that overlooked the conference room. Both she and Liara were now in position and they had twenty minutes to spare. However she hoped that Shepard would give them the call sooner than that so she could get out of the vent. She hadn't really noticed it before but the vent was starting to feel a little claustrophobic. The feeling soon got so strong that she was beginning to feel…

"Dammit," she thought, "not now."

The nauseous feeling was returning. She fought hard to keep herself from throwing up again but the battle was turning against her.

"Get her up."

The nauseous feeling vanished when Ashley got distracted by the sound of Luciana's voice coming from below. However her relief was quickly replaced by adrenaline when she saw what was happening in the conference room. A hostile was untying one of the hostages and threw them over to Luciana.

"The boss is getting tired of waiting for Shepard to make his move," she said to her troops, "I'm going to take Ms. Morrison here to the communications center and use her to give Shepard some incentive to pick up the pace."

Normally Ashley would not be one to panic but things were starting to escalate quickly and Shepard still hadn't called to let them know that Tali's attacker had been found. If she and Liara were going to have a chance to save all of the hostages, they needed to move now. However an attack now would put Tali in jeopardy. Sadly Ashley felt there wasn't any other choice. She could only hope that if they gave Shepard enough advanced notice he would be able to use the failsafe the two of them put together. She quickly pulled up her omni-tool and vigorously typed a message to Liara.

LUCIANA IS ABOUT TO EXECUTE A HOSTAGE. WE CAN'T WAIT ANY LONGER. CALL SHEPARD AND TELL HIM TO EXECUTE THE FAILSAFE NOW.

Ashley then remembered that Liara didn't even know what the failsafe was. That was something she only talked about with Shepard. Fortunately Liara was smart enough not to ask questions and instantly patched a call through to Specialist Hawkins. She could tell because Liara had arranged for her to listen in to the call as well.

"Specialist," said Liara, "the terrorists are about to execute one of the hostages. The commander and I are going in. Call the Normandy and have them get a message to Captain Shepard telling him to execute the failsafe."

"Copy that Doctor," Hawkins replied, "good luck, Shanghai out."

"Go when you're ready Ashley."

That was Ashley's cue. She pulled out her pistol and peeked through the vent to get a final idea of the layout. To her horror, Luciana had already taken the hostage out of the room and was nowhere to be seen. The remaining four hostiles maintained a perimeter around the other nine hostages. Liara hadn't called to say Luciana had passed her so Ashley figured Luciana had gone out one of the other access points. She was going to have to find them after she saved the other hostages. She then slowly raised the vent cover and put her pistol between the gap. Her sight was now lined up on the head of one of the hostiles.

* * *

Shepard was beginning to get frustrated. He had been searching windows for what felt like hours but had not found one with the shooter in it. The only thing breaking the annoying silence was Tali's speech below and Garrus' occasional check-ins with weather updates. During the last check-in, Shepard thought he heard a hint of nervousness in his voice. Shepard couldn't blame Garrus if he was feeling nervous. He had hoped he would have found the shooter by now as well. The only thing that helped him feel not so nervous was the message he got from Traynor saying that Ashley and Liara had reached the hostages without being detected. Now if he could just find the shooter, he could tell them to begin their rescue. His thoughts were interrupted when his comm. started beeping. Traynor was calling him again.

"Captain!" she shouted nearly causing Shepard to drop his rifle. "Execute the failsafe now! Don't ask why, just do it!"

Shepard's first instinct was to ask what was wrong and if something had happened to Ashley and Liara but he stopped himself before he could. There were more pressing concerns to worry about and Traynor had just told him not to ask questions. He quickly called Garrus but was nearly deafened when a new sound came over his comm. He looked down below and found out what the sound was. Something Tali had said in her speech had caused the crowd to begin thunderously applauding and cheering. Garrus was also applauding but not as enthusiastically since he was only doing it to blend in. Sadly he was also not showing any indication that he was hearing Shepard's call. Shepard shouted Garrus' name over the comm. again but it was no use. Garrus couldn't hear him over the cheering.

While he continued trying to get Garrus' attention, Shepard returned his gaze to his rifle scope and resumed his search for the shooter. He was now merely glimpsing in any window that had a heat signature. After passing a few more windows, he came across one where the signature had their hand touching their ear. The signature then ducked down below the window. Shepard watched the window a little longer and the figure returned to view this time carrying a cold object. Based on the outline of the object against the signature's warm body, Shepard could tell it was a rifle. Now that he had found the shooter, he took aim with his rifle factoring in the conditions Garrus reported in his last message. After his final attempt to get Garrus' attention failed, he pulled the trigger.

The shot missed.

For some reason the shot had gone low and to the left. When it struck the wall, the resulting explosion of fragments caused the shooter to duck out of sight. The only thing Shepard could guess happened was that the wind had shifted since his last check with Garrus and blew the bullet off target. As he tried to readjust his aim, he saw the shooter had returned to view and was trying to get his rifle back on target as he recovered from the shock of Shepard's missed shot. It wasn't going to be long before he got Tali back in his sights and Shepard knew he couldn't line up his second shot in time to stop him.

Suddenly, Garrus' voice was faintly heard over Shepard's comm. He was trying to tell Shepard about the sudden wind change but it was hard for him to talk over the crowd's cheering. Unlike Shepard, Garrus couldn't shout without attracting attention from the crowd. In a last ditch effort to save Tali, Shepard shouted as loud as he could and hoped that Garrus would hear him this time.

"GARRUS, EXECUTE THE FAILSAFE! I CAN'T GET THE SHOOTER IN TIME! GET TALI OUT OF THERE NOW! GARRUS?!"

BANG!


	41. 4-11

Garrus' omni-tool had beeped to tell him that the wind had just changed direction. The crowd's cheering was nearly deafening and almost made him miss the notice. He knew it was going to be tough for Shepard to hear his call with the cheering in the background but Shepard needed this information to line up his shot. He activated his comm. and began to give Shepard the latest wind speed and direction.

"GARRUS…..FAILSAFE!"

Before Garrus could finish his report, he heard Shepard shouting something over the comm. The crowd's cheering made it hard for him to hear the whole message but one word he heard in particular stood out: failsafe. Garrus knew something was wrong because Shepard would never use that word in a transmission otherwise. Shepard was telling him to get Tali off the stage immediately.

Garrus shot out of his chair and charged onto the stage. As he ran, he pulled off the quarian mask he was wearing so as not to alarm Tali too much when she saw him coming at her. Tali quickly recognized him and her smile vanished as she became slightly confused as to why she was seeing him. She didn't get the chance to ask as she heard a shot just as Garrus reached her. Instinct quickly overtook Garrus and he jumped onto her and forced her down to the ground. As they fell, Garrus felt the bullet fly by mere inches behind him. The bullet had to have been a large caliber round because when it struck the stage's backdrop, an explosion of splinters shot out and rained down on top of Garrus and Tali.

Between the sound of the gunshot and the explosion of splinters, it didn't take long for the crowd to realize what was going on. The cheers quickly turned into panicked screams as everyone in the crowd raced for the nearest exits. The only people not running for the exits were the members of Tali's security team. Half of them were trying to locate the source of the gunfire while the other half was rushing the stage to assist Tali who was now being helped up by Garrus. They drew their weapons on Garrus but were quickly waived down by Tali as she told them who he was. Garrus then started leading Tali off of the stage while the security team provided cover for them.

"Garrus what's going on?" she asked as they approached her skycar.

"We need to get you out of here," Garrus replied, "the mystery backer sent someone to kill you."

"What?"

"I promise I'll explain everything later but right now you need to go."

Tali wanted to ask more questions but the urgency in Garrus' face told her that it was not the time for it. She gave Garrus a quick hug and got into her skycar. Once the skycar's doors were closed, Garrus banged on the roof signaling the driver to pull out. As the skycar flew off, Garrus called Shepard on his comm.

"We're all good down here Shepard," he asked, "Tali's being evacuated now. Did you get the shooter?"

"No," Shepard's voice replied, "he moved out of my view before I could take the shot. He's in the building directly across from where Tali was speaking. I'm on foot and heading there now. The shooter was on the eighth floor so if we hurry we should get there before he's able to leave the building."

"Copy that, out."

After Garrus signed off, he asked the leader of Tali's security team if he could borrow a skycar. He agreed and showed Garrus to the nearest one. As he got into the skycar, Garrus silently hoped that Shepard would find the shooter first. He figured Shepard was going to want to talk to the shooter first. But it was going to be hard for Garrus to resist the urge to kill the shooter on sight for what he almost did to Tali.

* * *

(BANG!)

The first shot Ashley fired was a perfect headshot killing the hostile instantly. Before any of the three remaining hostiles had a chance to react, she fired two rounds into each one. When the last hostile hit the floor, she lowered herself out of the vent surprising the hostages when she landed. Ashley quickly introduced herself to them and raised her gun in case any hostiles tried to enter the conference room to investigate the shots. While nobody entered, she nearly jumped when she heard Luciana's voice coming over an intercom.

"We just lost the team responsible for guarding the hostages. All personal report to the conference room and take out any intruders you find."

Shortly after Luciana stopped speaking, Ashley heard gunfire coming from outside the room. Convinced that the hostages' ties would keep them from going anywhere, Ashley peeked out the door and saw Liara positioned behind some cover and engaging hostiles coming from down the hallway. Liara saw Ashley out of the corner of her eye and laid down some suppressive fire allowing Ashley to join her behind the cover. The two then began alternating firing and reloading while keeping the hostiles from getting near the conference room. Before long the hostiles started dropping as Ashley and Liara's shots started hitting them.

As the hostiles kept appearing and dropping, Ashley started to feel that something was wrong. If she was counting right, they had almost killed every remaining hostile that they saw on the camera feeds. There was no reason for all of the hostiles to come to the conference room. The smart choice would have been to leave some of the men at their posts to wait and ambush them when they tried to get the hostages out. Why was Luciana ordering all of her men to charge into what would ultimately be their deaths?

After a few more minutes of fighting, the last hostile dropped and no more new ones appeared. Bodies were sprawled out all over the hallway. Ashley and Liara shared a confused look as they both reached the same conclusion. There were indeed twenty dead bodies in the hallway. If they added the four hostiles Ashley killed in the conference room, then they had killed twenty-four out of the twenty-five hostiles they counted when they did their recon. The only hostile left was Luciana herself.

"What just happened?" Ashley asked.

Liara shook her head, "I don't know. Do you think this was the plan all along?"

"Maybe, if Luciana thought we had made our choice coming to save the hostages, sacrificing her people like this could have been her way to ensure they got out okay. She did say that she and the backer try their best not to cause innocent casualties. They'd rather sacrifice their own people since they're criminals. Although I doubt they would have let that stop them from killing the hostages if they thought we chose to save only Tali."

Liara gasped, "she still might kill that hostage she took if she finds out Shepard and Garrus are on Rannoch."

"You're right. First let's get the other hostages out of here and then we'll go after Luciana."

Liara nodded and followed Ashley back into the conference room. Once inside they started releasing the nine hostages seated around the conference table. It wasn't normal procedure to let hostages go anywhere alone but Ashley and Liara were convinced it was safe enough since Luciana was the only hostile left. So they sent the hostages on their way and informed them to tell the Alliance forces outside to hold position until the final hostage was secured. Once the last hostage left the conference room, Ashley and Liara went out through another door to follow Luciana into what turned out to be a room full of cubicles that were used as the offices for the brokers who worked in the building.

(BANG!)

They had barely set foot into the offices when a shot hit the doorframe inches from them. They ducked into the nearest cubicle just as another shot hit where they were standing. Ashley peeked out from the cubicle and was able to just make out Luciana across the room. The hostage she called Ms. Morrison was being held in front of her as a human shield. Though Morrison's long blond hair was draped over her face and she was wearing glasses, Ashley could make out fear in her eyes and tears rolling down her face. With no clean shot she could take, Ashley had no choice but to try reasoning.

"It's over Luciana!" she said. "All of your men are dead and the other hostages have escaped. Let Ms. Morrison go and we'll let you walk away."

"HA!" Luciana laughed. "I know that you can't just let me walk. Ardat-Yakshis like me are not allowed to live. If I let Ms. Morrison go you'll just gun me down like an animal. Now I have a shuttle waiting for me and until I reach it, Ms. Morrison is coming with me to ensure that you don't try anything."

There was nothing Ashley and Liara could do but watch as Luciana retreated further into the room as Ms. Morrison cried out for help. Ashley looked to Liara hoping for an idea but Liara's mind seemed to be elsewhere. Before Ashley could ask what she was thinking about, a smile like the one she had in the maintenance room appeared.

"I think I know where she's going," she said, "I have an idea. Follow me."

With no time to ask questions, Ashley followed Liara back into the conference room.

* * *

The building that Shepard had seen the sniper in was, to his surprise, the local police headquarters. It was hard for him to believe a sniper could infiltrate a police station but Shepard decided that was a question to be asked at another time. When he arrived, the building was surrounded by numerous cops and vehicles. Normally you would expect to see that at a police station but the way they were organized looked like a standoff at a bank robbery or hostage situation. As he approached the main entrance, he saw that Garrus was already there and was in a heated argument with an officer who was manning a small section of the barricade that went around the headquarters.

"I'm sorry sir but anyone who is not a police officer is not allowed in the building at this time," said the officer.

"I am a police officer," Garrus replied.

"But you're not a local police officer. Your C-SEC credentials don't mean anything on Rannoch."

"Do Spectre credentials mean anything here?" Shepard asked as he approached.

The officer turned to argue with Shepard but froze when he recognized him. Even if Shepard wasn't a recognizable war hero, the fact he was one of only two human Spectres made it so that he didn't need to show any credentials. The officer snapped to attention and stood to the side to let Shepard and Garrus pass. On the way in Shepard gave Garrus a pistol. Garrus couldn't risk sneaking weapons into the park so he had to leave his gun behind. Now that both of them were armed, they carefully entered the police headquarters' main lobby.

The lobby didn't offer much cover but it meant that Shepard and Garrus would spot the shooter easily if he was in the area. Unfortunately the shooter was nowhere to be seen. The pair did one thorough sweep to confirm and gave an all clear call to the officers outside. Once the officers were inside, Shepard explained that he and Garrus were going to work their way up and search floor by floor. As they progressed, the officers would follow them up and guard all access to the lower levels in case the shooter got past them and tried to come down. The officers all nodded to acknowledge the plan and Shepard then led Garrus up to the next level.

Their search went without much action for the first seven floors. It was when they got to the eighth floor that they finally found something. Inside what appeared to be an armory, a Black Widow sniper rifle was found lying by a window that overlooked the park. Shepard's knowledge of all weapons told him that to use a as powerful a weapon as a Black Widow to kill one quarian was overkill and he figured the sniper knew that. This only confirmed Shepard's hunch that Toombs was the sniper. He was someone who would hate Tali strongly enough to go to such extremes to kill her. The only other clue was some shrapnel on the floor that likely came from the spot where Shepard's shot struck the exterior wall.

"I don't like this Shepard," Garrus said after they had cleared the floor, "we should have found the shooter by now. The only other place he could have gone is up but it makes no sense for him to do that."

"Unless he has a ride coming to pick him up," Shepard replied as he activated his comm. to speak to the officer from outside, "Officer have any shuttles landed on the roof in the last few hours?"

"No sir," the officer's voice replied, "no shuttles are expected to arrive today and we haven't seen any unauthorized shuttle's approach the building."

Shepard silenced his comm. and said to Garrus, "we need to be careful. The shooter was probably told that a shuttle would be coming to get him on the roof. If the shuttle hasn't arrived by now it probably won't at all. That's going to make him desperate and he might try something stupid to get out."

Garrus nodded and followed Shepard up to the next floor. With their pistols raised, they entered what turned out to be the holding cells area. The silence told them that they were empty of prisoners. They both knew however that it didn't necessarily mean that were completely empty. Shepard silently ordered Garrus to go down one row of cells while he went down the other. He then slowly made his way to the opposite end of the hall peeking into each cell as he went. He didn't have much luck until…

(SLAM!)

When Shepard was about to enter one of the middle cells, the door slid shut catching Shepard's gun arm between the doorframe and the door. His combat armor protected him from feeling pain but the surprise of the door shutting was enough to cause him to drop his gun. The door then opened again and Toombs appeared. Before Shepard could react, Toombs grabbed him and pulled him into the cell. He then threw Shepard across the cell and into the back wall. Shepard turned around in time to see Toombs closing the cell door and grab the gun from the floor. Shepard charged at Toombs and managed to push the gun away before Toombs could fire a shot. The two then struggled to gain control of the weapon.

As they fought, a banging sound was heard on the cell door. Garrus had come to investigate the noise and was trying to get inside. Unfortunately the door held firm and since the cell was not lined with bars he couldn't fire a shot to hit Toombs. With no other choice Garrus shouted that he was going to get the key from one of the officers.

Inside the cell, Shepard had managed to twist Toombs' arm enough that he got him to let go of the gun. He then brought up his knee and hit Toombs in the gut. He followed up by straightening Toombs up and punched him across the face. The punch sent Toombs into the wall. To Shepard's surprise, it didn't take long for Toombs to recover from the punch. When he hit the wall, he bounced right off of it and came head on into Shepard ramming him into the opposite wall. Toombs then went to throw a punch of his own but Shepard managed to move his head to the side causing Toombs to hit the wall instead. The sound of the impact made even Shepard feel the pain Toombs was no doubt feeling in his hand. While Toombs was nursing his hand, Shepard made an attempt to reason with him.

"Please Toombs," he said, "I don't want to kill you. I probably should after what you did to Miranda but I'm not the murderer you and your boss think I am. If you stop this now and tell me who you're working for, I'll see to it that you receive a lighter sentence."

"Never!" Toombs shouted as he went to throw another punch.

Fortunately Shepard was able to grab the punch and used it to help flip Toombs over so that he was now lying on his back. Toombs was quick to get back on his feet and into a crouch position. He then did a sweeping kick knocking Shepard off his feet and onto the ground as well. Before Shepard could get up, Toombs jumped on top of him. Shepard tried to push Toombs off of him but Toombs had already gotten himself situated and was able to resist Shepard's struggle. Toombs then wrapped both his hands around Shepard's throat and started choking him. Shepard grabbed Toombs' hands and tried to remove them from his throat. He fought hard at first but his dwindling air supply caused him to get weaker. As he started to black out, he could see Toombs had an evil smile on his face and heard him begin to laugh.

"I may not have gotten your quarian friend Shepard," he said between laughs, "but at least I will have the pleasure of killing you. I told you I would be serving your death sentence someday. Goodbye Cerberus stooge."

Shepard listened but could not hear any sounds coming from outside the cell. Where was Garrus with the key? It was getting harder for him to think straight as the oxygen supply to his brain dropped. He was almost beginning to see the inside of his eye sockets as his eyes started rolling up. With the last bit of thought process he could muster, he decided to try one last thing. His right hand let go of Toombs' hand and pulled back like he was going to punch him again. However this time his omni-tool appeared and was glowing red instead of its usual orange. Toombs was so focused on choking Shepard that he didn't notice what was happening. Within seconds, Shepard's omni-blade deployed and ran across Toombs' neck. In one swift motion, Shepard straightened his arm causing the blade to go clean through Toombs' neck. Toombs' face briefly showed surprise before his whole head came off and rolled across the cell floor.

Now that Toombs no longer had a hold on his neck, Shepard gasped as he was able to breathe again. As he took in more breaths, he slowly started getting his senses back and rolled Toombs' headless body off of him. He sat himself up and rested up against the cell wall. Even though he knew it was necessary for him to survive, Shepard was disgusted by what he did to Toombs. Shepard was not someone who liked to use blades on people but there were times like this where it was his best option. If he had to kill someone, he would prefer to use his gun and get it done quickly so the person didn't suffer.

A click coming from the cell door snapped Shepard out of his thoughts. The door then unlocked and opened revealing Garrus on the other side. Garrus raced to Shepard's side and helped him up onto his feet. After taking in the sight of what happened to Toombs, Garrus focus turned to Shepard who was starting to get some color back into his face.

"Are you okay Shepard?" he asked.

"I think so," Shepard replied while still panting, "I might want to have a medic take a look at me just in case. Can you help me get to the elevator?"

Garrus smiled as he offered Shepard a shoulder and helped him out of the cell to the nearby elevator.

* * *

The situation on the inside of the headquarters may have been resolved but the outside was still somewhat frantic as officers were running around and yelling orders trying to get the place completely secured. In spite of the chaos there was one happy moment happing in the middle of it. Shepard and Garrus emerged from the building and were greeted by Tali waving to them from the crowd standing along the perimeter. Shepard asked for one of the officers to allow Tali past the perimeter while Garrus helped Shepard over to a nearby medic. Once Garrus had helped Shepard onto a gurney, he turned around just in time to be greeted by Tali's embrace. As the couple hugged, a medic approached Shepard and gave him a quick examination. When the medic gave him clean bill of health, Shepard joined Tali and Garrus as they walked away from the headquarters.

"Thank you both for saving my life," Tali said.

"You're welcome Tali," Shepard replied, "you'd do the same for us."

"I'm sure she has on more than one occasion," said Garrus.

"Are we keeping score now?" Tali chuckled.

Shepard was about to reply when his comm. started ringing. He tapped his ear to answer it and was nearly deafened by Traynor talking hysterically. It took a few moments before Shepard was finally able to calm her down enough to speak clearly. As she spoke, Shepard's face turned from one of concern to one filled with sheer terror. This did not go unnoticed by Garrus and Tali who shared a look of concern and were trying hard to suppress the urge to interrupt Shepard and find out what was going on. Suddenly Shepard's legs gave way and he would have hit the ground if Tali and Garrus weren't there to catch him. Not able to wait anymore, Tali spoke up.

"What's going on Shepard?"

* * *

Liara's hunch had paid off. After following some directions she provided, Ashley arrived at the trade center's shuttle garage. She carefully entered and was relieved to see that there was only one shuttle parked inside. At least it wasn't going to be hard finding Luciana's shuttle. There was no sign of Luciana or Morrison so Ashley figured that they hadn't arrived yet. Liara did tell her that the directions would get her to the garage before them. Not wasting a second, she ran to the lone shuttle and climbed inside. She situated herself inside the pilot's compartment and raised her rifle so that it would greet the next person who entered the shuttle.

A few minutes later, Ashley heard the sound of Morrison screaming for help. Then she heard Luciana telling Morrison to shut up and that she would be set free once they reached the shuttle. Luciana then dragged Morrison into the shuttle and froze when she found herself staring down the barrel of Ashley's rifle. Unfortunately before Ashley could get a shot off, Luciana managed to get Morrison directly between her and Ashley.

"I told you not to follow us Commander," Luciana said, "do you want me to kill Ms. Morrison?"

"Please," Morrison sobbed, "I don't want to die."

"You're not going to die Ms. Morrison," Ashley said as she took a step forward, "Luciana you don't believe in killing innocent people. Ms. Morrison is not a criminal nor does she have any connection to Captain Shepard. Killing her would be murder and you keep trying to convince people you're not a murderer. Don't do something that will prove you wrong."

Luciana stepped back from Ashley and took Morrison out of the shuttle, "on the contrary Commander it will be you who kills her. I'm giving you every chance to save her by letting me go. If I pull the trigger, it will be your fault."

Ashley continued to step closer forcing Luciana to keep moving back. Convinced that Ashley was not going to back down, Luciana started to pull the trigger. It was then she suddenly realized that she wasn't moving. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't move a single muscle. She quickly figured out that she had been put into stasis. With Luciana unable to move, Ashley was able to safely pull Morrison away and started comforting her. Then Liara appeared from Luciana's peripheral vision. Liara took Luciana's gun and then pointed her own right at Luciana's head. Nothing happened for several seconds until Luciana was finally released from stasis and was able to speak again.

"You could have just shot me while I was in stasis." she said, "why didn't you?"

"I wanted to," Liara replied, "but the Commander insisted that we do this the right way. Get down on your knees please."

Luciana scoffed but she did what she was asked and also bowed her head.

"Find peace in the embrace of the goddess," Liara said quoting the phrase Samara would use when she executed a criminal.

(BANG!)

The shot went clean through Luciana's head killing her instantly. Ashley and Liara watched her body fall down while Morrison covered her mouth in shock. Like Shepard, Ashley and Liara never took pleasure in killing people but they were almost willing to make an exception for Luciana because of the friends they lost thanks to her. After a second they both started comforting Morrison who was now visibly shaking because of the ordeal.

"It's okay Ms. Morrison," Ashley said calmly, "it's over now."

Morrison didn't speak but managed to nod her head to indicate that she understood. Ashley and Liara each took one of Morrison's arms and helped her inside the shuttle to let her rest in one of the seats. They then stepped out of the shuttle to give her some space. The two then shook hands to congratulate each other.

"Great job Liara," said Ashley.

"You too Ashley," Liara replied, "I also got some good news from Rannoch. Shepard and Garrus were able to rescue Tali. It shouldn't be long now before they find the shooter. All in all, I don't think we could have asked for a better outcome."

Suddenly Ashley's comm. started ringing indicating Specialist Hawkins was calling her. She answered the call and was about to give a report when Hawkins spoke first. Unfortunately Ashley wasn't able to hear clearly what he said. She stepped away from the shuttle and asked for Hawkins to repeat what he said.

(BANG!)

A gunshot was heard and Ashley felt something wet hit her back. She didn't bother wiping any of it off as she had an awful feeling what it was. When she looked back towards the shuttle, she gasped at what she saw. Lying next to Luciana was Liara lying face down and completely still.

"LIARA!" Ashley screamed.

Ashley ran over to Liara's body and carefully turned her over. She instantly locked eyes with Liara's which were wide open like something surprised her. If the fact that Liara's eyes had no life in them didn't tell Ashley that she was dead, the bullet hole in her head sure did. Ashley wanted to cry but she was more concerned with where the shot came from. There was no one in front of her so that meant it could only come from….

Ashley slowly turned around and found herself staring into a pistol's barrel. She looked past the pistol to see that it was being held by Morrison who no longer looked like the terrified woman Ashley had just left in the shuttle. Instead she looked at Ashley with a sinister smile. She also was no longer a blonde as she was now sporting long brown hair and she was not wearing her glasses anymore. The blonde wig Ashley thought was her hair and the glasses were on the ground next to her. The shock of the new woman in front of her made Ashley speechless.

"Commander," the woman formally known as Ms. Morrison said, "I believe you and your husband have been looking for me the last two years."


	42. 4-12

"Liara's dead and Ashley's missing."

That was how Shepard answered Tali's question. He was lucky that he was already on the ground when he said it because Garrus and Tali probably would have dropped him while they were helping him down after Traynor's message made his legs give way. Initially Garrus and Tali didn't know how to react. They shook their heads in denial but when they saw the sadness in Shepard's face they couldn't deny it anymore. As they started to cry as well, Shepard patched Traynor into Garrus and Tali's comm. so that she could give them the details.

According to Traynor, Specialist Hawkins on the Shanghai tried to call Ashley when it was discovered that one of the hostages at the trade center was not who they claimed to be. A report had come to the Shanghai from Shanxi law enforcement reporting that Ms. Rebecca Morrison, the CEO of the Morrison Company had been found murdered in her apartment. From the marks on her neck, it was determined she had been strangled to death. The coroner estimated that she had been killed at least two days prior. Yet the trade center records indicated that she had shown up alive and well for the conference and that she was one of the hostages still inside. Realizing that the woman claiming to be Morrison was an imposter, Hawkins tried to warn Ashley and Liara. Before he could however, a gunshot was heard over the comm. and then there was nothing. Later the Alliance forces that were manning the perimeter around the trade center entered the building and found the bodies of Luciana and Liara in the shuttle parking garage. Both had been killed by a single shot to the head. Unfortunately there was no sign of Ashley or the Morrison imposter.

After Traynor had finished and signed off, Tali's small tears had now become practically waterfalls as she buried her face in Garrus' chest. Garrus was doing his best to comfort her but this was proving difficult as he was trying to wrap his head around what he had heard. One of their closest friends was dead and another one disappeared along with a woman who claimed to be the deceased CEO of a major company. There was one other thing in particular that was proving to be the most difficult to understand.

"So do we think the woman was another one of the backer's agents?" he asked.

Shepard was about to agree when a thought crossed his mind. Throughout his investigation into the mystery backer, there was one thing that he never really took the time to consider: the backer's gender. The usual assumption when dealing with an unknown enemy is that they are a male but Shepard had never ruled out the possibility that the backer might be a woman. If that was the case, then it was possible that….

"I think she was the backer," Shepard said.

"What?" Tali asked as she separated from Garrus.

"The backer said that it wasn't going to be long before she revealed herself. Can you think of a better way for her to do that than by putting herself right under our noses and striking when we least expected it. She knew that we would never suspect one of the hostages and especially not a woman. She was one step ahead of us again."

Suddenly Shepard slammed his fist on the ground causing Garrus and Tali to jump, "she has always been one step ahead of us and we just can't seem to catch up. Now our lagging behind has cost Liara her life and allowed my wife to end up in the hands of madwoman whose sole mission has been to make me suffer by killing the people closest to me. God only knows what she's doing to Ashley right now."

When Shepard's rant was over, Tali knelt down next to Shepard in an attempt to comfort him while Garrus seemed hesitant about something. He was sad that Liara was dead too but his immediate concern was for Ashley…and for Shepard. Shepard was someone who could always handle anything that was thrown at him and continue to command. This time however his own wife was in danger and it was making it hard for him to think. Still something needed to be done. So while it pained him to do it, Garrus gave Shepard what could almost be considered an order.

"On your feet Shepard," he said, "we need to get to Shanxi."

Shepard looked up at Garrus slightly confused, "what?"

"I'm sorry about what happened to Liara but we can't mourn for her right now. We need to focus on helping Ashley and we can't do that here. Let's get back to the Normandy and we can be at Shanxi in a few hours."

Garrus then held out his hand to help Shepard up. Initially Shepard didn't know how to respond but he quickly realized that Garrus was right. He nodded to acknowledge Garrus' plan and let Garrus and Tali help him up. At this point, the quarian in charge of Tali's security detail approached and told Tali that they had to begin their return to the embassy on the Citadel. Shepard and Garrus started to say goodbye but to everyone's surprise, Tali didn't make an effort to leave. When the detail leader tried again to get her to come with him, she shook her head.

"I'm not going back Lieutenant," she said, "I'm going with Captain Shepard and my fiancé."

"Ambassador," said the lieutenant, "you are needed back at the embassy."

"Lieutenant I have just been told that one of my best friends has been murdered and another friend who happens to be my matron of honor is in danger. I can't just go back to the embassy and sit behind my desk while my fiancé and the man who is going to give me away at my wedding are out there risking their lives to try and save her. I'm going with them and I am going to help them find my friend. If anyone at the embassy has a problem with that then they can go to hell."

The look on the lieutenant's face indicated that he did feel for Tali and wanted to let her go but his professionalism wouldn't let him back down, "ma'am you're an ambassador, I can't let you take chances with your life like this."

"She's not just an ambassador Lieutenant," said Shepard, "she's a skilled engineer and one of the best combatants I know. She played a big part in helping Garrus and I fight the Reapers."

"I understand sir but…"

"Lieutenant," Tali said as she put both her hands on the lieutenant's shoulders, "I appreciate you doing your job but this is something I have to do. If it will help, Captain Shepard is a Spectre. He can order you to let me go with him and you will be obliged to obey him. No one will hold you responsible for this."

She then turned to Shepard who looked at her somewhat surprised. What Tali said was true but Shepard also knew what might happen if Councilor Zaal'Koris found out he ordered his ambassador into a life threatening situation. Then he saw the pleading in Tali's eyes and decided that Koris would understand if he explained the situation to him. Besides Shepard was going to need all the help he could get to save Ashley and Tali was near the top of the list of people he would turn to for it. He turned to the lieutenant and gave the order.

"Ambassador Tali'Zorah's assistance is needed for an urgent Spectre mission. You are hereby ordered to release her into my charge. She will be brought back to the embassy as soon as the mission is completed."

The lieutenant smiled, "yes sir, thank you sir. I hope you find your friend Ambassador, fly safe."

Tali thanked the lieutenant and dismissed him and his men. Once they had left, Garrus held out his arm, which Tali happily accepted. They then followed Shepard while he called Cortez to arrange for the shuttle to pick them up.

"You'll be happy to know that I packed your shotgun when I left the Citadel," Garrus said to Tali.

"You did?" Tali gasped. "Why?"

"I just thought it was best to be prepared. You always ended up joining Shepard's crew at some point in the past. I figured this time wouldn't be any different."

Tali smiled but it quickly vanished as a thought entered her head.

"Liara," she said as she laid her head on Garrus' arm, "I just can't believe she's gone. You realize she could have lived for another nine hundred years. By asari standards she was practically a child."

"In that way yes but she was far from a child Tali," said Garrus, "she was the galaxy's leading expert on the Protheans and the Shadow Broker. No child could have accomplished that."

"Do you think Shepard's going to be okay?"

"I don't know. I do know that I don't envy him right now."

"Why's that?"

"He's going to have to make the notification call to Feron."

* * *

Shepard did exactly that when he got back onto the Normandy. The call was over now and Shepard was just sitting behind his desk in his office on the crew deck. He sighed and leaned back in his chair as he processed the conversation he just had. There were many things about his job that were difficult but notifying the loved ones of his fallen comrades was easily near the top.

The call went about as rough as Shepard expected. As he explained to Feron everything that happened, the number of tears in Feron's eyes increased. Feron was quiet at first but then he suddenly started rambling vivid details about some of the times he had with Liara. Shepard remembered when his former squadmate Thane Krios would do a similar thing when talking about his family and his previous assassinations. It was a trait of the drell species to be able to recall memories down to the smallest details and they would randomly slip mentally into those memories as if they were back in the time or place they were thinking about. As Feron recalled each happy moment he had with Liara during their time together, the sadness Shepard felt grew. He had always thought that it was only a matter of time before Liara and Feron were married and having kids. Now that wasn't going to happen.

The conversation then turned to the fate of Liara's Shadow Broker operation. Shepard made the suggestion that Feron could probably take over. After all he was the one Liara left in charge while she was helping Shepard. Feron thanked Shepard for his confidence but ultimately he thought it was best if the Shadow Broker died with Liara. When Shepard asked why, Feron explained that business hadn't been doing well since the Reaper War ended. Part of the reason the previous Shadow Broker was successful was because the only thing he cared about was credits and it didn't matter how he used the secrets he learned to get it. Liara had a stricter moral standard and would never use the secrets she learned in immoral ways. The Reaper War gave her ways to use her resources to help people. Without the war, her only steady business was the occasional requests from Shepard. Feron feared that if anyone else tried to be the Shadow Broker, they would be tempted to do something morally wrong. With that logic, Shepard felt that Feron was right and that the operation should be shut down. Feron said that he would get right on it as soon as he signed off.

Before Feron could sign off, Shepard asked if Feron would do one final favor with the Shadow Broker resources before he shut it down. He asked Feron to send him any information regarding the Morrison Company and Morrison herself. When Feron asked why, Shepard explained that it was because he was curious about why the backer had chosen Morrison to impersonate at the trade center. Feron said he would have the information for Shepard shortly and signed off after wishing Shepard luck in tracking down Liara's killer.

With nothing to do until they reached Shanxi, Shepard thought back on the times he had known Liara. It wasn't just because he needed to mourn her but because he needed to do whatever he could to keep himself from going nuts worrying about what was happening to Ashley. He thought back to when he first met Liara at the Prothean dig site on Therum during his hunt for Saren. Back then she was just a shy archeologist. If Shepard had been told back then that she would go on to become the Shadow Broker and a skilled combatant who would help defeat an advanced race of artificial intelligence, he wondered if he would have believed it. He then thought about the somewhat awkward moment when Liara revealed that she had romantic feelings for him. He managed to break the news that he wasn't interested in her in that way gently and they went on to become close friends. He sighed. It was hard for him to accept that Liara was gone. She had survived a lot during the war only to end up killed by a woman she thought was a hostage. He managed to laugh after he thought about how lucky he was that he handled the situation with Liara's feelings for him when he did. If Ashley had found out then how Liara felt about him, there probably would have been a confrontation and possibly a catfight.

Unfortunately the brief thought of Ashley was enough for Shepard to take his mind off of Liara and the nerves he was trying to suppress started to emerge. He looked at the picture he had on his desk of him and Ashley on their wedding day. Several questions went through his mind as he looked at it. Why didn't he make Ashley see Dr. Chakwas? Maybe Ashley would have been kept out of the field for medical reasons and she never would have been kidnapped. Maybe Liara could have been saved if she was with a squad of marines from the Shanghai instead of going with just Ashley. How could he have let the backer get the better of him again?

"You had no way to know what was going to happen down there Shepard."

Shepard looked up from the picture to see Garrus and Tali standing in front of his desk. That was one thing Shepard liked about them, they always knew when he needed a friend to talk to. They also always seemed to know what he was thinking and what to say about it. He knew that Garrus was right but what he said next wasn't showing it.

"No I should have known Garrus," he said as he got up from his chair and stood by the nearby window, "the backer had already gone after most of my other friends. It was only a matter of time before she finally went after the person who is the most important to me."

"We'll get her back Shepard," Tali said as she put a hand on Shepard's shoulder.

A tear appeared in Shepard's eye, "I want to believe that Tali but I just don't know anymore."

Tali looked to Garrus with a concerned look. Garrus was feeling the same way. They both thought that Shepard was just worried about Ashley but now it seemed that there was something else going on in Shepard's mind. Even though Shepard had every right to be concerned for Ashley's wellbeing, he should have been rational enough to know that he could help her if he concentrated on coming up with a plan for when they got to Shanxi. Yet Shepard seemed so anxious that he couldn't do it. Garrus joined Shepard and Tali by the window.

"What's really bothering you Shepard?" he asked.

At this point Shepard's face was covered with tears and he was starting to sniffle, "I just don't know how much more of this I can take. It's been more than two years since we beat the Reapers, two years since I thought that I was done putting friends' names on the Memorial Wall. But since then I have lost Zaeed, Grunt, Vega, Kelly, Miranda and now Liara. Don't you see? My friends are still dying and I'm powerless to stop it. I can save the galaxy from nearly unstoppable dreadnoughts but I can't save my friends from one crazy woman. With all the death that has happened in my life I probably should have lost it long ago. The only reason I've been able to keep it together was because I had Ashley. Now the backer has her and there's no telling what she is doing to her right now. If I lose her…I…."

"You won't," said Tali, "and you won't lose us either. When we get to Shanxi, we're going to end this once and for all."

"But we can't do it without you," Garrus said, "the backer can't outrun us forever. If anyone can figure out a way to stop her, it's you."

Before Shepard could think more about what Garrus was saying, his terminal beeped indicating he had received a new message. With his luck it was probably the backer calling to mock him again. He reluctantly clicked on the message and was relieved to see that it was actually from Feron. The subject line read: One Final Favor from the Shadow Broker. As Shepard read the contents of the message, his face changed from sadness to contemplating. It was the same expression he had when he made his last breakthrough on the case. Something in the message was trying to fit with some miscellaneous puzzle pieces he had in his head. Suddenly they clicked together. With his eyes now full of determination and a renewed focus on the mission, Shepard headed for the door.

"Meet me in the War Room in ten minutes," he said to Garrus and Tali as they watched him leave, "I think I might have a way for us to finally identify the backer."

* * *

Garrus and Tali entered the War Room at the appointed time to see Shepard standing on the other side of the circular table with his hands behind his back. Projected above the table was a file photo of Ms. Morrison. Garrus and Tali asked Shepard what he found but Shepard's focus was solely on the photo.

"Why did the backer kill Morrison?" he asked.

The question confused Garrus and Tali as they wondered if Shepard was really looking for an answer or if the question was rhetorical. Fortunately for them, Shepard continued talking.

"Luciana said that the backer's plans were designed using the best of care to ensure that no innocent civilians were lost. The only people the backer and her people have killed were our friends, the criminals they funded and the three ex-Cerberus personnel they killed for Toombs. Aside from our friends, none of the people they killed would be considered innocent. Now I'm not saying they deserved to die because that is not my call to make. My point is that they were criminals. Yet Morrison's file doesn't show any signs of criminal activity. She was clean. So why did the backer have her killed?"

"Because the backer was going to pose as Morrison at the conference," Garrus replied.

"She wouldn't have needed to kill Morrison for that. She could have sent some of her people to abduct her and hide her away until the crisis was over. Morrison would never have seen the backer's face so there would be no risk in keeping her alive. Something about Morrison forced the backer to break her rule about killing innocents. Tell me, what are the usual reasons for why a person would kill someone?"

Tali answered first, "revenge is one reason but I don't see how that would be the case here. The only one the backer has been obsessed with getting revenge against is you."

Garrus joined in, "I also can't see how it can be about greed because the backer would need to be rich already to pull off the stuff she's done."

"You're both right," said Shepard, "I think we can also safely assume Morrison's death is not a crime of passion. The only possibility left is that this is about covering something up. What if Morrison had something that could compromise the backer? She would've had no choice but to kill Morrison. Take a look at this."

Shepard pushed a button on a keyboard on the table and the image of Ms. Morrison vanished. In its place, a table listing the Morrison Company's profits over the past several financial quarters appeared. Shepard then asked Garrus and Tali what was wrong with the data. At first glance they didn't see anything too weird. As the quarters went on, the credit values continued to increase at a steady pace. It looked like what you would want to see happening with a major company's money. Sensing that they needed a hint, Shepard continued.

"As we all know the Morrison Company specializes in making appliances that make the home life easier. They make everything from cooking supplies to vacuum cleaners. If you're a human living in Alliance space, odds are you own some kind of appliance that was made by this company. There's always a demand for household appliances so this company should never lose a lot of credits from year to year. Yet take a closer look at their records from each quarter during the last two years."

Sure enough when Garrus and Tali looked at the records Shepard mentioned, they noticed three periods where the profits were significantly lower than the previous one. Even if the company wasn't having a particularly good quarter their profits wouldn't have dropped as low as the numbers they were seeing. Then they noticed the dates of the quarters in question. They looked up at Shepard with surprised looks and Shepard nodded confirming their suspicions.

"They were losing credits around the same time Balak, the Dalatrass and Finch's plans were happening," said Garrus, "you think the backer was funding them by stealing money from the company?"

"Not only that," Shepard replied, "I think the backer worked for the company. If the backer was an outsider, the missing credits would have been noticed sooner. The backer is probably a high level employee who has access to the company's finances. She probably secretly diverted credits from the company's accounts to fund the different schemes. By all accounts it should have gone unnoticed but what if Morrison began to notice credits were disappearing. What if she started poking around trying find out where they were going? She could have been on the verge of finding out what backer was up to."

"So the backer had to have Morrison killed to keep her from alerting the authorities," said Tali, "it makes sense. That means all we have to do now is figure out which employee was diverting credits."

"I doubt we can do that," Garrus said, "the backer has always been good at covering her tracks. No doubt she took steps to ensure we couldn't follow the credit trail."

Shepard pushed another button that replaced the Morrison Company financial report with a list of Morrison Company employees, "true Garrus but we don't need to follow credits. The fact that we now know the backer is a woman who works for the Morrison Company is the first big clue we've had in trying to identify her. What we need to do before we get to Shanxi is look through this list of employees and the personnel files that Feron provided us and find her. It's a long list so we'll have to divide it up between the three of us."

"Is there anything else that will help us narrow it down?" asked Tali.

"This whole thing has been about someone special that the backer lost supposedly because of me. Aside from looking for female employees who had access to company finances, look for someone who had lost a loved one recently due to unnatural causes. Whether it was a spouse, sibling, parent, or even a close friend make a note of it and we'll take a closer look at them. Let's get to work."

Garrus and Tali nodded and began downloading their sections of the list to their omni-tools. When they were done, everyone in the room took a seat around the War Room to go through their individual list. While they worked, Shepard started thinking about something else. With all the chaos of the last few hours he didn't think about something that had bothered him since Traynor first mentioned the Morrison Company back on Rannoch. There was something familiar about the company. True he had always known the company existed but for some reason he felt like this wasn't the first time the company had come up during one of his assignments. All he could do was hope that he would figure it out quickly since it might help him narrow down the list.

After a few minutes the trio had marked every name on their list that matched their search parameters. The marked names were then projected on the center table for everyone to go over. There were a total of nine names for them to go through. Shepard presented his list first. Unfortunately while the two names he found fit the profile, it was discovered that the each names loved ones who died of unnatural causes had passed away after the backer first came to Shepard's attention.

Garrus' list was next. He was able to find four names but they too were shot down. One name had only a limited amount of access to company finances meaning she couldn't have stolen the funds needed for their schemes. Two names were eliminated because they had alibi's during the trade center hostage crisis meaning they couldn't have been there posing as Morrison. The last name was dropped because the circumstances surrounding her loved one's unnatural death were due to a freak accident meaning there would be no reason for Shepard to be blamed for it.

Tali's list was the only one left. Three names were displayed with their respected photos. Tali was about to go through each one individually but was stopped when she noticed Shepard was deep in thought.

"Is something wrong Shepard?" she asked.

"I'm not sure," Shepard replied as he clicked on one of photos.

The photo was of a woman with long, brown hair and brown eyes. Her face could easily be considered attractive but that wasn't what drew Shepard's attention to it. He couldn't put his finger on it but there was something familiar about the woman's face. The name next to photo identified the woman as Dana Thompson, the company's CFO. She was definitely in a position that would give her access to company finances. Shepard then looked at Thompson's personnel file. Both of her parents had died ten years ago in a skycar crash while she was in college. Her only other family was an older sister who was also dead. When Shepard read how the sister had died, his eyes widened.

"Oh no," he said.

"What is it Shepard?" Garrus asked.

"It's her. She's the backer."

"What makes you say that?"

"She had a sister who was killed six years ago. I was the one who killed her."

"But Shepard you would never murder anyone," said Tali.

"You're right Tali," Shepard replied, "I didn't murder her sister but that doesn't mean I didn't kill her."

The confused looks on Garrus and Tali's faces told Shepard he needed to explain, "her sister's name was Julia and she was a crewmember on the Morrison Company's vessel the MSV Worthington. It was operating in the Gemini Sigma cluster when it mysteriously dropped out of contact. No one knew what had happened to it…until we found it floating adrift in the Ming system.


	43. 4-13

**Sometime Between the Therum and Virmire Missions of Mass Effect 1**

"Commander Shepard to the CIC, Commander Shepard to the CIC."

Inside the Captain's Quarters on the Normandy SR-1's crew deck, Shepard's thoughts were interrupted when he heard Joker page him over the intercom. He checked the time but was surprised to see that it wasn't the time he was expecting. Joker was not supposed to call him to the CIC until they were about to reach the mass relay that would take them out of the Han System of the Gemini Sigma cluster and into the Horsehead Nebula. According to the time that was still at least an hour away.

The Normandy had originally come to the Han System to complete an assignment Shepard had picked up on the Citadel during one of their visits. It started when he stumbled onto a C-SEC report saying that C-SEC was monitoring a woman named Helena Blake who was believed to be involved with a powerful crime syndicate. Shepard decided to look into the matter himself and went to the Presidium's financial district which was where Blake was last seen. He didn't have to look far as Blake actually called him over to her. Blake had heard about Shepard and his recent induction into the Spectres and wanted to offer him a job. She revealed that she was acquainted with two powerful crime bosses and was willing to give Shepard their locations so that he could "do the galaxy a favor" by taking them out. However Shepard knew the real reason Blake wanted the crime bosses killed was so that she could take over their parts of the operation. He told Blake that he refused to become part of a gang war. Despite that, Blake gave him the coordinates anyway and asked if he could really allow the men to live despite the fact they were involved with drug distribution and slavery.

That question made Shepard conclude that ultimately Blake was right. If the two crime bosses were indeed big drug movers and slave traders, he had to do something about it. He would just tell himself that he was not doing it for Blake but because it was his duty as a Spectre to bring the criminals to justice. The fights were rough but Shepard and his squad managed to shut down the bases at both locations and killed the crime lords when they refused to surrender. With both bases gone, Blake wanted Shepard to meet her in the Horsehead Nebula to give him a reward. Unknown to her, Shepard had no intention of collecting it. Instead he was planning on trying to get her to shut down the gang altogether or else face arrest. He was thinking about what exactly he was going to say to her when Joker paged him.

Still slightly confused as to why Joker was paging him when they shouldn't be leaving the Gemini cluster yet, Shepard left his quarters and walked up the steps to the CIC deck. He took his place at the galaxy map. The map zoomed in to show the Normandy's current location. Sure enough the cluster's relay was still an hour away. He was about to scold Joker for calling him to the CIC too soon when suddenly the map zoomed out from the Han System and focused on the neighboring Ming System. A blip then appeared along the first planet's orbit to indicate a ship.

"Is this why you called me up here Joker?" he asked.

"Yes sir," Joker replied over the intercom, "this is going to sound strange but that ship was in this same location when we first arrived in this cluster."

"Really? That's a long time for a ship to be stationary. Did you try to hail them?"

"I've been trying but no one is answering."

This wasn't making any sense to Shepard. In the mystery ship's current position there were no nearby habitable planets or space stations. There was no reason for it to have remained stationary during the time it took the Normandy to complete their assignment. The fact the ship wasn't answering their hails either made the situation more suspicious. He decided that Blake was going to have to wait a little longer. Right now he needed to investigate what was wrong with the mystery ship.

"Get us to the Ming System Joker," he said, "I want to take a team on board that ship to investigate."

"Roger that Commander," Joker replied.

When Joker had signed off, Shepard turned away from the galaxy map and left the CIC to go back down to the crew deck. He walked past the mess hall and headed for his locker to get his gear.

"Hey skipper," a voice behind him said.

Shepard didn't need to turn around to know who the voice belonged to. He smiled as he turned around to see Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams waving to him from one of the mess tables. Seeing Ashley always brought a smile to Shepard's face. The two of them had been getting pretty close the last few days and Shepard was beginning to feel that there was something growing between them. True they hadn't really talked about becoming a couple but the subtle flirting and teasing they shared indicated to Shepard that Ashley was feeling the same way. Shepard knew that eventually he and Ashley would need to talk about if they were going to pursue a relationship but he knew it might have to wait until their mission was over.

"Hey Ash," he said as he walked over to Ashley's table, "are you just sitting down for chow?"

"Yeah," Ashley replied, "I stopped by your quarters to see if you wanted to join me. Where were you?"

"I was up on the CIC deck."

"Is everything okay?"

"Not sure, Joker picked up a ship that appears to be adrift and it's not responding to our hails. I'm having him take us in to investigate. Would you be willing to have chow later and come along?"

Ashley nodded.

"Good. Find Liara and tell her to suit up. I'll meet you both back here when you're ready and we'll head up to the airlock."

"Aye-aye skipper."

* * *

"Equalizing interior pressure with exterior atmosphere," the voice of the Normandy's VI said while Shepard and his squad waited to board the mystery ship.

It always annoyed Shepard every time he had to go through this process before leaving the Normandy. Not only because the process seemed like it took a while but because of the noise. The process of equalizing the cabin pressure was always loud. Finally the doors opened allowing Shepard and the squad access to the ship and everything became quiet…a little too quiet.

Right away Shepard knew that something was wrong. This ship could easily hold a maximum of thirty people. With that many people someone should have been there to greet them. Yet there wasn't a soul in sight. Shepard cautiously pulled out his shotgun. Ashley and Liara followed suit with their own weapons. They then slowly made their way deeper into the ship.

"Guess nobody's home," said Ashley.

"Most of the systems seem to be disabled," said Liara, "only basic life support appears to be functioning."

They had now reached the main cargo hold. Shepard was about to make a comment about how it appeared clear when suddenly a noise caught everyone's attention. It sounded like footsteps.

"Hear that?" Ashley asked. "We're not alone."

The situation just continued to get creepier. Shepard wasn't one to scare easily on an assignment but that was because he would usually have a rough idea of what he was walking into. In this case the ship was practically dead minus the life support and they hadn't seen anyone but were hearing someone moving around. Plus having no idea if the person they were hearing was friend or foe didn't help. When they didn't hear any other sounds, they decided to continue forward. All their eyes were moving around looking for any sign of life.

Suddenly Shepard spread his arms out stopping Ashley and Liara in their tracks. Before they could ask what was wrong, Shepard pointed down to a wire that ran across the floor. They followed the wire to an explosive canister not too far away. If they had tripped the wire, they would have been blown to smithereens. Shepard ordered Ashley and Liara back while he pulled out his pistol and pointed it at the canister. Ashley and Liara looked at him with confusion so Shepard explained that if they set off the explosive it might make whoever was hiding think that they were dead. He fired his pistol and the tank exploded.

Ashley shook her head, "somebody set that trap. The whole place could be wired."

Shepard agreed and that was the other reason why he set off the first trap. If they had waited until they reached the other side of the hold, the person in hiding might have suspected the ruse. Now as long as they didn't stumble onto that person, they could proceed slowly and carefully thus allowing them to look out for any other traps. There were indeed more traps along the way but they were able to see them in time and stepped over each one. As they proceeded, Shepard couldn't help but wonder where the rest of the crew was. If the crew had been killed somehow he figured he should have seen a body by now. His thoughts were interrupted when they reached the other end of the hold. To his relief, they had made it without incident.

They proceeded to enter the adjacent hallway and came across an intersection. According to the signs, the rooms were the med bay, the bridge and the crew quarters going from left to right. Shepard chose to search the med bay first. He figured maybe the crew came down with an illness and were all in there. However it wasn't the entire crew they found but only one man lying on a bed. On the one hand Shepard was happy to have finally seen someone on board but on the other hand the guy didn't appear to be conscious.

"Looks like that machine is keeping him alive," said Ashley.

Shepard asked Liara to take a look at the man. He knew that she wasn't a medical doctor but she did have more medical knowledge than he and Ashley did. It took Liara a minute to read all the machines. When she was finished, she somberly shook her head.

"I do not see any brain activity on the readouts," she said, "he is dead. This body is just an empty shell."

Shepard bowed his head. They had finally found someone but the man was basically dead. Shepard couldn't help noticing the irony in their current situation. They had found a brain dead man being kept alive by life support on a ship that was practically dead except for the running life support. After shaking off the irony, Shepard looked at the man and contemplated what to do. It didn't seem right to just leave the guy like this.

"Maybe we should shut the machine down," he said, "it's the merciful thing to do."

"It is your decision Shepard," Liara said though there was some doubt in her voice, "but perhaps we should wait until we have more information before we do anything."

Shepard nodded. Liara was right. It was always better to have all the facts before making a decision. He trusted Liara's judgment on the man's condition but it would help if they could find any of the doctor's records to collaborate it. Also they still had to find out what happened to the rest of the crew and more importantly who the person was they heard moving around earlier.

The first place Shepard looked was the doctor's terminal in the back of the med bay. Most of the stuff on the terminal was medical data that was over Shepard's head but he did find the most recent audio log that the doctor left. He hit play and hoped that the log would give a layman's synopsis of the man's condition so that he wouldn't have to read any of the charts. The first words the doctor said were easily understandable but they weren't good.

"Jacob's not going to make it. His brain was deprived of oxygen for too long. There's nothing any of us can do for him now except let him die with dignity. It's what he would want. I'm more worried about Julia now. She's showing signs of severe depression. I gave her some meds that should help but I better warn the captain."

The log confirmed everyone's suspicions. The man on the table, now identified as Jacob couldn't be saved. There appeared to be no reason for them to leave Jacob's life support on. At least there wasn't a medical reason for it. The only thing keeping Shepard from turning the machines off was the woman the doctor mentioned. Whoever she was, it sounded like she wasn't taking Jacob's situation well. If she was the person they heard walking around in the cargo hold, there was no telling how she would react once the machines were off. The only thing Shepard could do at the moment was continue looking around for more clues.

Shepard then led his squad out of the med bay and to the bridge. The bridge was just as deserted as almost every other room on the ship. The good news was that the pilot's instruments were online. Shepard tapped a few buttons until he stumbled upon the captain's log. The latest entry was time-stamped sometime after the doctor's log they had just heard. Shepard pushed the play button and the captain's voice was heard.

"Jacob is showing no sign of brain activity. There's nothing more we can do for him. He wouldn't want to be kept alive by machine so we're going to disconnect the life support. Dr. Smith is worried about Julia's reaction though. She can't seem to let Jacob go. The stress is making her implants flare up causing intense migraines. It'll probably be easier for everyone if we don't tell her until after we've shut the life support down. Give her a chance to...Julia, what are you doing here?! Why are you...ahhhh!"

Shepard shared a nervous look with Ashley and Liara. The ending of the log did not sound good at all. They were all starting to get a strong feeling as to what had happened to the rest of the ship's crew. Based on the comment the captain made about Julia, Shepard determined that Julia was a biotic. He remembered how his other human squadmate Kaiden would mention getting headaches because his biotic implants flared up from time to time. Considering how bad the side effects for biotics with L2 implants could get, Kaiden was lucky to only have migraines. Shepard couldn't imagine that Julia was as lucky as Kaiden was but could she really have snapped just enough to cause her to kill the rest of the crew?

The only place left for Shepard and the squad to look was the crew's quarters. The first thing they noticed was the twenty empty beds. They already knew Jacob was in the med bay and Julia was probably lurking in the cargo hold. That meant there were at most eighteen people still unaccounted for and nowhere left to look. Shepard was now thinking he would rather not know what happened to the rest of the crew. Although he was still having a hard time wrapping his head around the thought that Julia could have killed all eighteen people on her own. He was proven wrong however when he checked the console in the back of the room and pulled up the latest audio log. Based on the content and the voice, Shepard figured it was Julia.

"They say Jacob's gone. They say his brain isn't functioning anymore and they want to shut off his machines. But Jacob's the only thing in the world that matters to me. I don't know how to help him and it's tearing me up inside. I just feel so helpless, so damn angry! Dr. Smith gave me some meds to calm down but I didn't take them. I can't! Not until I figure out a way to help Jacob. I won't give up on him. I won't!"

Now there was no doubt in Shepard's mind about what had happened. Based on how much Julia cared for Jacob, Shepard figured that the two of them were a couple. When Jacob had gone into his coma and the rest of the crew decided to shut off his life support, the combined effects of Julia's depression and her implant induced headaches had caused Julia to snap. In a misguided attempt to keep Jacob alive, she killed everyone on the ship. No doubt she had a little help from her biotics. She probably set up the booby traps Shepard and the others found to keep anyone who found the ship from coming aboard. The mystery was solved but there was still one thing left to do.

Shepard led Ashley and Liara back to the med bay and stepped towards the life support machine. Before he reached for any of the buttons, he warned Ashley and Liara to keep their weapons ready. He had a strong feeling that once he pushed the button, Julia would finally let everyone knew where she was. He pushed the button and instantly the machines powered down and Jacob's heart rate flat lined.

"NOOOOOOOOO!"

Everyone jumped when a loud scream came from outside the med bay. No one moved as they waited to see if Julia would come charging into the room. When nothing happened for a minute, Shepard led Ashley and Liara out of the med bay. There was no way that Julia could have snuck into the crew's quarters or the bridge without them seeing her so that left the cargo hold. Shepard was a little nervous about entering the hold. While they had the numbers against Julia, she had the whole cargo hold to hide in and biotics. Still the cargo hold was their only way off the ship. With no other choice, Shepard and the squad stepped out of the hallway and into the cargo hold.

(SLAM)

The door slammed shut behind them. Shepard turned to try and open it again only to discover that it was locked tight. He turned to tell Ashley and Liara but stopped when he noticed a faint blue glow coming from behind some crates. Then he noticed one of the explosive canisters they passed earlier lifting up into the air. His eyes widened when he realized the canister was coming right at them.

"INCOMING!" he shouted.

Ashley and Liara turned just in time to see the canister. Thinking quickly, Liara powered up her biotics and created a force field that fully materialized just before the canister could hit them. The field was able to shield them from the blast but the force was strong enough that it knocked Liara back a few inches. She recovered quickly and kept the field up long enough for Shepard and Ashley to get behind some crates for cover. Once they were clear, she lowered the field and joined them. Shepard carefully peeked over the crate he was hiding behind and he looked in the direction where he had seen the glow.

(BANG!)

A bullet struck the top of the crate and only just managed to deflect past Shepard's head forcing him back down behind the crate. From their current position, neither Shepard nor his squad could make out where Julia was shooting from. Shepard did some quick thinking and figured out a way to change that. Unfortunately once he committed to the plan, there was a good chance that Julia was going to end up dead. In a last ditch effort to resolve the situation peacefully, Shepard called out to Julia.

"Julia," he said, "I'm Commander Shepard with Special Tactics and Reconnaissance. Drop your weapon and come out with your hands in the air."

"Why?" Julia replied. "So you can kill me like you did Jacob?"

"Julia, if there was anything we could have done to help him we would have but Jacob was already gone. Your crew knew that and that's why they wanted to shut off his life support."

"They gave up and they wanted me to give up on Jacob as well. I loved him and there was no way in hell I was going to let him die. Everything I've done I did to keep Jacob alive long enough for me to find a way to help him."

As Shepard and Julia's exchange continued, Shepard gave some signals to Ashley and Liara. The plan he had come up with earlier was for Ashley and Liara to provide covering fire. While they kept Julia pinned down, Shepard would move to another position that would give him a good line of sight on her. Ashley and Liara nodded to acknowledge Shepard's orders and readied their weapons. Before Shepard gave them the final go order, he made one last effort to reason with Julia.

"And you think that justifies killing the entire crew," he said.

"When you love someone strongly enough Commander, you will do anything to help them. I was doing just fine and then you and your squad came along and ruined everything. You murdered the man I loved and now you will pay for it."

Shepard sighed, "Please Julia. I'm sorry for your loss but this has to stop. There's no need for anyone else to die. Come out with your hands up and we can talk."

"Go to hell you murderer!"

As a much as Shepard wanted to bring Julia in alive, a part of him knew that it was a long shot for him to try. It was time to launch his plan. He nodded to Ashley and Liara. The minute they saw the signal, Ashley and Liara stepped out from their cover and fired blindly in opposite sweeping patterns. Shepard used the opportunity to move towards some cover along the ship's starboard wall. The sounds of Ashley and Liara's gunfire told him he still had time to quickly peek out from cover and locate Julia. He regretted making the choice the minute he found her.

Julia had figured out what Shepard was planning and had warmed up her biotics. By the time Shepard got in position, she had already lifted up another explosive canister and was preparing to throw it towards him. Shepard dived back behind a tall stack of crates. To his surprise the blast didn't come from where he had just been. Instead the blast hit the crates directly. Before Shepard had any chance to react, the explosion shattered the crates causing the pieces to crumble down and buried him.

"SHEPARD!" Ashley shouted.

Ashley's concern for Shepard had stopped her fire long enough to allow Julia to follow up her biotic throw with a slash attack. The attack yanked Ashley and Liara's weapons straight out of their hands. Julia stepped out from her cover and prepared to gun them down. Fortunately while Ashley and Liara were unarmed, they weren't helpless. Liara threw out a singularity that lifted Julia off the ground. This allowed her and Ashley to make a break for their weapons.

Then Julia did something they didn't expect. Despite floating uncontrollably in the air, she was able to get one shot off with her pistol and hit an explosive canister next to Ashley and Liara. It wasn't close enough to kill them but the force blew them into the air and into the port side wall. This time Ashley and Liara weren't able to get up right away. When they hit the ground, they landed on their heads putting them into a dazed state. They weren't able to shake it off before Julia was free of the singularity and walked over to them with her weapon raised. Realizing there was no hope of escape, Ashley and Liara closed their eyes and waited for the end.

(BOOM!)

The sound they heard was too loud to have been a pistol shot. They opened their eyes and saw Julia falling forward. When she hit the ground, Ashley and Liara saw several bullet entry wounds on her back. They looked past where Julia had been standing. What they saw made them smile and breathe a sigh of relief. Kneeling and covered with rubble was Shepard who was holding a smoking shotgun. He slowly got up on his feet and walked over to help Ashley and Liara up.

"I know the shotgun might have been a little overkill but I couldn't take any chances," he said."

"I don't think either one of us is complaining Shepard," said Liara, "you saved our lives."

Ashley shook her head, "I still can't believe it. All this death just because of one woman's misguided attempt to save the man she loved."

"Love can make people do crazy things Chief but I don't think that's solely to blame for this. Julia suffered the perfect storm of emotions: love, stress, and pain from her migraines. You put those altogether and it would make any sane person snap. Let's go, there's nothing more we can do here."

With that said, the trio walked in somber silence as they made their way to the airlock and back onto the Normandy.

* * *

**Present Day**

"I don't understand Shepard," Tali said after Shepard had finished recapping the events on the Worthington, "that was a case of self-defense. Julia had murdered her entire crew and would have killed you if you hadn't killed her first."

"Yeah," said Garrus, "why would her sister think you killed her in cold blood?"

Shepard sighed, "after we got back on the Normandy, I called the local authorities and they sent a recovery team. When they arrived, they recovered Jacob and Julia's bodies but they weren't able to find the logs that explained what had happened before we arrived. The terminals on the ship had a security protocol requiring a password be entered at the same time every day or else all the data is deleted. We just happened to have been on the ship before that happened. Because the authorities couldn't find the logs, the only evidence they had that Julia had snapped was our word of mouth. If it wasn't for my Spectre status, they probably would have insisted that I had to go in for questioning. (chuckle) It's ironic you know. We were criticizing the Council for taking Saren's word over ours about Eden Prime because he was a Spectre and then there I was asking others to do the same thing."

"But Dana couldn't," said Garrus, "I know if someone had told me that my sister had snapped and murdered a lot of people, there's no way I would believe it without proof."

Shepard nodded, "we all know that Spectres are allowed the complete their missions however they deem necessary and sometimes they take the extreme route even if they didn't have to. Dana probably figures that I killed Julia unnecessarily and used my Spectre status to get away with it."

Tali shook her head, "that's terrible. If she really knew you Shepard then she would know you're not a killer."

"Tali she also thinks her sister couldn't have become a killer," said Garrus, "apparently she's not a good judge of character."

Shepard held up his hand to silence them, "we could spend all day trying to understand why Dana's doing this but it doesn't matter. Tali was right earlier when she said we need to end this once and for all. Ashley is counting on us to save her and we need a plan to do it. Garrus, you were right as well about how Dana has always been able to anticipate our every move. We need a plan that she will never see coming. I have an idea that might work but we will need some more help."

Suddenly Shepard's eyes lit up and a sly smile appeared on his face, "and I know just the crewmembers to ask for it."


	44. 4-14

Shanxi. This was the planet where a lot of things began. Some of them were good, some of them not so good. The First Contact War was fought there which lead to the beginning of humanity's role in the galactic community, albeit in a bloody way. The events of the war were also what prompted a man known as Jack Harper to become the Illusive Man and form Cerberus. The war was also when Ashley's family curse of not advancing through the ranks began after her grandfather was blackballed for surrendering his garrison to the turians. Since the war ended, humanity had made great advances in society, Cerberus had been dissolved and Ashley's family curse seemed to have been broken. A lot of things began at Shanxi but now Shepard was on his way there hoping that something would come to an end.

As Shepard looked out the window in the shuttle's co-pilot seat, he found it hard to believe that such a beautiful planet had once been the sight of a terrible war. On account of his love of history, Shepard had always wanted to visit Shanxi but it never worked out. After he married Ashley it became impossible for him to go. He never wanted to go on a trip without Ashley but the one time he suggested a trip to Shanxi, she shot it down. Shepard didn't blame her for doing so. The history of Shanxi was not particularly good to her family. Despite the strides Ashley made in breaking her family's curse, it didn't make it any easier for her to think about Shanxi. That was why Shepard was initially surprised when Ashley volunteered to go to Shanxi to rescue the hostages. Though he figured it was because she knew he was going to want to be in the group that saved Tali. Now Shepard couldn't help but wonder if the Williams curse was getting a second wind with what had happened to Ashley during the mission.

Shepard shook his head to get the thought out of his head. He needed to focus on the task at hand. They were heading for the Morrison Company headquarters. The building was reportedly shut down once the news of Morrison's death was announced as the company's way of mourning her. With the building supposed to be empty, Shepard felt it would give Dana the perfect place to set up the last phase of her plan. Dana's knowledge of the building due to her job and the fact she would no doubt be expecting Shepard gave her a big advantage. The only chance Shepard had of getting Ashley out alive was for the plan he was hoping Dana wouldn't see coming to work.

"Captain," said Cortez, "we'll be at our destination in twenty minutes. I can take us the rest of the way if you want to relax in the back."

"Thanks Lieutenant," Shepard replied. "that actually sounds like a great idea."

"Just doing what I can to help sir."

Shepard gave a Cortez a pat on the shoulder as thanks and joined Garrus and Tali in the passenger compartment. He smiled when he saw them snuggled together with Garrus having his arm wrapped around Tali. Shepard wondered how many times him and Ashley would do the same on their shuttle rides. He took the seat opposite them and gave them their ETA.

"Shepard," said Garrus, "did I ever tell you what I find most ironic about the First Contact War."

"Not that I know of," Shepard replied.

"That war was fought between humans and turians. Even after the war ended there were still some tensions between the two. Now thirty years later we have you and me, a human and a turian as best friends."

Shepard chuckled, "that just means one or both of us have bad taste in friends."

Both Garrus and Tali laughed before Shepard continued, "you know I was going to tell you both something before the final battle on Earth but then I found you both in the Normandy's main battery when you were…you know. I was caught up in congratulating you two that I forgot what I originally meant to tell you. I remember it now and since we seem to be in another final battle situation it seems as good a time as any to say it. You two have been with me longer than most of the people I've known. You always believed in me when most people didn't. I couldn't ask for better friends. Thank you…for everything."

Tali reached out and took Shepard's hand, "you and Ashley have been great friends to us too Shepard. That's why we're going to finish this the same way we did everything else…together."

Garrus nodded in agreement. The trio then spent the remaining trip in silence as they mentally prepared themselves for when they reached their destination. When the twenty minutes had past, Cortez called back to them letting them know the Morrison Company headquarters were in sight. Shepard activated the monitor in the compartment that allowed them to see outside the shuttle. Everyone gasped when they saw where they were heading.

The blueprints Feron had sent them of the headquarters building did indicate that it would be big but actually seeing it in person was a different story. The area it covered was as much as twenty soccer fields laid next to each other in two rows of ten. The building looked almost like a series of mountains as different sections had different heights. The tallest section of the building was fourteen stories tall. Based on what Shepard read on the building, it not only served as headquarters but was also the main factory where a lot of the company's products were made. With that in mind, it made sense that the building would be that massive. Unfortunately it meant it was going to be harder to find Ashley and Dana.

"Captain," said Cortez, "there's a shuttle landing pad on the roof of the main factory."

"Sounds as good a place as any to land," Shepard replied, "take us down Lieutenant and head back to the Normandy. You know what to do."

"Aye-aye Captain. Good luck."

Shepard, Garrus and Tali stood up and gathered at the shuttle door. They checked their weapons one more time to make sure they were primed and ready. As soon as the doors opened, they stepped off the shuttle onto the roof of the Morrison Company headquarters.

* * *

When a person normally pictures a factory in their mind, they usually think of a place with loud machinery being operated by anywhere from a small to large group of people. Such was not the sight of the Morrison Company factory. It was dark and so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. In order to see where they were going, Shepard and his squad had to use the flashlight attachments on their pistols. They moved slowly so as not to make a sound and checked every nook and cranny they came across. In this factory, there were a lot of them.

"Would Dana really hide Ashley somewhere in here?" Tali whispered.

"I doubt it," Shepard replied, "it does provide a lot of hiding places but I think she would rather use them to hide traps. Keep it slow and steady while keeping your eyes opened for…"

Shepard didn't have a chance to finish his order when suddenly the entire factory lit up like a Christmas tree and the machines started running at full speed. The combination of the unexpected lights and loud noises nearly blinded and deafened the trio. They were so distracted covering their ears and letting their eyes adjust that they didn't notice three large mechanical claws coming down from the ceiling. They had just gotten used to the light and noise when the claws picked them up into the air. The claws proceeded to move them above what could be only described as a large chute. The claws dropped them and they fell down several yards of narrow, metal tubes with only their armor to soften the blows. When they had finished tumbling down the tube they came to a rest in something soft. While they were relieved their landing was soft, the aroma in the room told them they might have been better off with a hard landing.

"Please tell me we didn't land in garbage," Garrus groaned.

"I wish I could but it's been my policy not to lie," Shepard replied, "it's darker in here than it was in the factory before the light show. Fortunately we still have our flashlights so look around and let's find a way out of here."

Sadly finding a way out proved difficult. The room they were in was pretty big but no matter where they shined their lights, they only saw garbage and wall. In a last ditch effort, Shepard pointed his flashlight up. He saw the hole they had fallen through but there was no way for them to get out that way on account of there was nothing for them to grab onto.

When he shined his light a little ways down he found another opening. This one appeared to be an access hatch for maintenance. Even though it was too high to reach on their own, Shepard figured that they could make a human-ladder to get at least one of them out. In this case though, it would have to be a quarian/turian-ladder. Garrus was the tallest of the three and Tali was the lightest. It was the best combination that would ensure they could reach the hatch. He instructed Tali to climb up onto Garrus' shoulders. Tali couldn't help but let out a subtle giggle at the suggestion. After a bit of a struggle, Tali managed to climb on top of Garrus and opened the hatch. She then pulled herself up and out of the room. She called back that she was going to look for something to get Shepard and Garrus out.

(RIIINNNGGG!)

Before Tali had the chance to do anything, an alarm went off and the room slowly began to light up. Shepard and Garrus turned towards the source of the light were horrified by what they saw. On one side of the room, the floor of garbage ended and a growing fire began. They took some steps back but were surprised to see they were actually getting closer to the fire. A quick glance down revealed that they were standing on a conveyor belt that was moving them and the garbage towards the fire. Shepard and Garrus then took off full speed in the opposite direction. The garbage under their feet made it somewhat difficult but eventually the last of the garbage past them. They figured it wouldn't be much longer before the conveyor belt's automatic shutoff would kick in because of the lack of garbage and stopped moving but they were wrong. Instead the belt under them moved faster. Both of them were starting to get tired and were quickly losing distance between them and the fire.

Meanwhile outside the hatch, Tali had stepped away and was frantically searching for a rope, ladder or anything to help get Shepard and Garrus out. The room she was in appeared to be a maintenance room. She figured it would be easy to find what she needed but none of the equipment she saw could help her. The sounds of Shepard and Garrus telling her to hurry weren't helping to settle her nerves. She contemplated leaving the room to continue her search when a thought hit her. Turning around, she saw that near where she had been standing was a control panel labeled "Waste Disposal System." There were so many buttons and switches that an average person would probably go blind trying to figure them out. Fortunately Tali was not average. Her skills as an engineer allowed her to quickly decipher the controls and find the ones that would shut down the conveyor build and put out the fire. The sound of relived sighs from Shepard and Garrus told her she had succeeded.

Now without the pressure of time, Tali stepped out of the maintenance room and managed to find a fire hose mounted on the wall nearby. She smiled as she grabbed an end and carried it back to the hatch. The hose was just long enough to reach Shepard and Garrus below. They wasted no time in grabbing the hose and pulling themselves up and out. Looking at them panting, Tali couldn't tell if the sweat on their faces was from the heat of the fire or from all the running they did to avoid getting caught in it.

"Good work Tali," Shepard said between pants, "now I'm really glad you insisted on coming along."

Tali smiled, "you're welcome. Shall we move on?"

Shepard nodded and led Garrus and Tali out of the maintenance room and into the adjacent hallway. The nearest sign on the wall showed that if they continued down the hall they would leave the factory and enter the main headquarters. Considering the fact that the factory had been trying to kill them ever since they entered, Shepard figured they would be better off leaving it as soon as possible.

In a short time, they were in the wide open main lobby of the headquarters. There was a large reception desk in the middle of the room with a big "M.C." on the front. Also several pieces of art and plants lined the walls. Shepard briefly looked out the main doors and could make out the lights of the city in the distance. At least they didn't have to worry about anyone coming to investigate whatever commotion they would likely be making and ending up in the crossfire.

The trio was about to continue exploring the main floor when they noticed that Garrus' assault rifle began to glow in a blue light. He was unable to react quick enough as his rifle suddenly flew out of his hands and landed clear across the room. Shepard and Tali's weapons followed suit and landed near Garrus'. They all made a move to get their weapons back when the sound of a pistol warming up froze them in their tracks. The sound was followed by a menacing cackle and a woman's voice.

"Look Commander," the voice said, "your hubby's here."

Shepard and the others looked up towards the source of the voice and were horrified by what they saw. Standing on the balcony above them was a woman Shepard instantly recognized from the personal photo he saw on the Normandy. Dana Thompson, a.k.a the Mystery Backer in the flesh. With no reason to conceal her identity anymore, Dana no longer hid as a silhouette and was using her real voice. Shepard thought to himself that she was definitely Julia's sister. Not only because of the physical resemblance but also because her voice sounded similar to Julia's. However what horrified Shepard and the others was what they saw Dana pointing her gun at, a gagged and handcuffed Ashley. Shepard was initially relived to see that Ashley appeared to be unharmed. The relief vanished when he noticed that despite the lack of physical wounds, Ashley was not looking too good. She was barely standing under her own strength and the look on her face made her appear to be near death.

"Spirits," Garrus said.

The sound of Garrus' voice made Dana groan and roll her eyes, "I see you managed to avoid becoming a pile of ashes Detective. I'm guessing the ambassador had something to do it."

"What if I did?" Tali asked sarcastically.

"Hello Ambassador. I have to say I was really disappointed to hear that Shepard and Detective Vakarian saved you on Rannoch. I knew you would insist on joining them and become a kink in my otherwise perfect plan to have the Detective go out in a blaze of glory."

"You listen here you bosh'tet….!"

"Not now Tali!" Shepard said cutting Tali off, "Ashley, are you alright?"

Ashley nodded weakly.

"Aw the commander is still trying to be a brave little soldier" Dana chuckled, "Actually Shepard while you three were roasting in the furnace, the commander was puking up a storm. You may be a murderer Shepard but I never would have guessed you would allow your wife to go on a mission when she is obviously not well."

Dana then paused for a second and pretended to be pondering something, "in fact she looks so bad…I don't know…maybe I should just…put her out of her misery."

"NO PLEASE!" Shepard pleaded.

Shepard, Garrus and Tali all took a step forward but were stopped when Dana pointed her pistol at them. They all took a step back while Dana's pistol returned to pointing at Ashley. The sight of the trio backing away made Dana's evil smile grow larger. Shepard was now on the verge of tears. Garrus and Tali shared a concerned look as they contemplated what to do. Garrus made a move to put a comforting hand on Shepard's shoulder but stopped when Shepard spoke.

"Please Dana," he said, "leave my wife alone. I'm sorry about what happened to your sister, I really am. I know you're hurting but what you're doing is not going to bring her back."

Shepard almost regretted saying the last statement as Dana's smile vanished and she appeared to tense up the minute she heard it. He was afraid that Dana was going to fire her pistol and kill Ashley right then. Then something else caught his attention. Despite looking sickly, Shepard thought he saw Ashley wink. She then made a subtle nod and titled her head towards Dana. Shepard had to hold back the smile he was about to make when he realized what Ashley was trying to tell him. She had a plan to break free and she needed Shepard to keep Dana riled up so that she wouldn't notice. Choosing his next words carefully, Shepard continued.

"Look Dana, I know Luciana said that your goal this whole time has been to make me suffer before killing me but don't you think I've suffered enough? I've already lost six friends who I cared a great deal about. Please let Ashley go and just take me now. There's no reason for you to kill her."

"YOU'RE WRONG!" Dana shouted. "You haven't suffered nearly enough! When you killed Julia, you took away the only family I had left. It is only because of what I've done that you are able to know the pain it caused me. To be honest I shouldn't even kill you because that would just put you out of your misery but I swore that I would get justice for my sister. When I'm done with your wife, I'm coming for…"

(POW!)

Dana was not able to finish her threat. Shepard and the others watched as Ashley managed to break out of her handcuffs. She then quickly knocked Dana's pistol out of her hand causing it to fall to the lobby below. After removing the gag from her mouth, she followed by throwing a strong punch at Dana's face. The two women then got into a fierce struggle that moved them away from the balcony's edge and out of Shepard and the others' view. The trio quickly picked up their weapons and raced to the nearest stairwell. As they headed up to the second floor, Shepard silently prayed that Ashley would hold on until they got there.

* * *

If there was ever a time Ashley was happy her dad had insisted that she and her sisters learn some kind of self-defense while they were growing up, it was now. Even in her weak state her marine hand-to-hand techniques were still as sharp as ever. After her struggle with Dana led them away from the balcony's edge, Ashley tried to force her against the back wall. Unfortunately Dana was able to break free and the two were now standing in ready stances waiting for one of them to make the next move.

Dana was the one who threw the next punch. Ashley was able to dodge the punch and followed with a punch of her own that struck Dana's side. Dana bent over and clutched the area of the blow. While Dana was stunned, Ashley moved around her and threw a karate chop that landed right in the middle of Dana's back forcing her to the ground. Dana quickly rolled over onto her back and brought her leg back and kicked towards Ashley. It didn't stretch far enough to make contact but the purpose of the kick was to keep Ashley from getting close enough to deal the final blow. The brief hesitation from Ashley was enough to allow Dana to hop back onto her feet and throw a punch that managed to make contact. The punch stunned Ashley but it didn't hurt as bad as previous times she'd been hit in the head during her career. Ashley retaliated by charging into Dana, blocking another punch Dana tried to throw. When Ashley reached her, she finally got Dana forced against the wall and began to land several blows to her face and side. Unfortunately she was so focused on throwing her punches she didn't notice Dana reaching behind her back. She continued punching until she was suddenly hit by a literal sharp blow to her abdomen. A quick glance down revealed the source of the pain was a knife. Suddenly Ashley's legs gave out and she collapsed. As she fell, Dana pulled the knife out and made a move to stab Ashley again.

"NOOOOOO!"

A scream made Dana freeze. She looked towards the end of the balcony the voice came from and saw Shepard and his squad entering from the opposite end of the adjacent room. A lot of things ran quickly through her head as she contemplated what to do. She looked down at Ashley. The knife wound looked bad but she felt she should at least deal one more blow to ensure Ashley couldn't be saved. On the other hand the longer she stayed where she was, the greater chance Shepard or his squad would catch her. She finally decided that it was too risky to stay and took off in the opposite direction. As she ran, she brought up her omni-tool and pushed a button. Her screen displayed a message that read "contingency plan initiated." She glanced back to get one final view of the wounded Ashley and continued running.

* * *

"NOOOOOO!"

Shepard and his squad were already running as fast as they could but after witnessing Ashley being stabbed by Dana, Shepard managed to get more speed. The resulting speed boost made him move like he was a bullet being fired from a gun. When he finally reached Ashley, he dropped down and started tending to her wounds. Garrus and Tali were right behind him. Tali assisted Shepard while Garrus kept a lookout in case Dana tried to come back.

While Tali began prepping medi-gel, Shepard examined Ashley's knife wound. The wound was pretty deep and had a large ring of blood around it. Shepard didn't know much about anatomy but he felt that there was a slight chance that Ashley was lucky and that the knife hadn't hit any vital organs. The chance was too small for him to put stock on it though and Shepard knew they had to get her medical attention as soon as possible. Right now the only thing he and Tali could do was give Ashley medi-gel and do their best to stop the bleeding. At the same time Shepard did his best to keep Ashley coherent.

"Ash can you hear me?" he asked.

"Sh…Shepard," Ashley managed to reply, "it hurts."

"I know. Hang in there. We'll get you patched up and back to the Normandy in no time."

"Liara…I…couldn't…save her."

Shepard sighed, "what happened to Liara wasn't your fault, nor was it mine. Now save your strength. We're not out of the woods yet."

As if to prove Shepard's point, an alarm started blaring. It was followed by a synthetic voice on an intercom saying "intruder alert, all security mechs report to main lobby." Shepard cursed to himself. They were about to be swarmed by mechs any minute but they weren't finished stabilizing Ashley. As if things weren't bad enough, Dana's voice replaced the synthetic one with an announcement Shepard and the others wished they didn't hear.

"You have two hundred mechs heading your way Shepard. Each one heavily reinforced with armor. I highly doubt that you and your squad have enough thermal clips to fight them all. If I were you I'd say your goodbyes to your wife quickly."

The minute Dana stopped speaking, Shepard heard the sound of mechs coming from the floor below the balcony. The sound was followed by gunfire as the mechs started firing towards them. Shepard and the others retreated further away from the balcony's edge. Temporarily safe from the gunfire, Shepard and Tali quickly treated Ashley the best they could. They managed to finish just before they became aware that some of the mechs were approaching from the opposite balcony entrance. Shepard got a glimpse of one and realized Dana wasn't bluffing about the armor. Even his inferno rounds would take forever to burn though it. The best he could hope for was that Garrus and Tali could keep them back long enough for him to get Ashley out of there.

"We need to get out of here," Shepard said to Garrus and Tali, "keep the mechs back. I'll see if I can get Ashley moving."

Garrus and Tali nodded and began laying down suppressing fire. They quickly settled into a rhythm where Garrus would fire a few armor-piercing rounds to damage one mech and Tali would fire a shotgun round to finish it off. Occasionally Garrus would launch an overload attack to temporarily stun a few. Tali did the same with her energy drain attack. It was a slow process but they managed to keep the mechs from getting close and even took down a few.

Meanwhile Shepard carefully tried to get Ashley on her feet. It quickly became apparent that Ashley was not able to stand on her own. With no other option, Shepard picked Ashley up in a bridal carry. He called out to Garrus and Tali ordering them to fall back. Before leaving, Tali deployed her combat drone to continue holding the mechs back buying them plenty of time to leave the balcony.

Shepard led the others back to the stairwell they came from. They had managed to get down half a flight of stairs when they noticed the sound of mechs coming from below.

"MECHS AHEAD!" shouted Shepard.

Tali quickly stepped in front of everyone and blew the first mech that turned the corner with her shotgun. Garrus joined her and kept the mechs back long enough for Shepard to carry Ashley back up the stairs. He went past the floor they had left and went up to the next one. The floor he entered had a smaller version of the reception area from the main lobby. According to the signs he had entered the floor that housed the company's legal offices. The reception area split into three narrow hallways with several offices down each one. The tight quarters were not Shepard's ideal fighting conditions but the mechs behind him forced him to accept that this was the floor he would have to settle for. He called for Garrus and Tali to join him and began assessing his options. He quickly realized that the right hallway ran along the outer edge of the building. This gave him an idea.

When Garrus and Tali joined him and informed him that the entire mech force was right behind them, he led them down the right hallway and sure enough the wall on the right side was large-sized windows that ran all the way down the hall providing a view of the outside of the building. When they got to where Shepard guessed was the center of the hall, Shepard ordered everyone into the closest office. Though Garrus and Tali were initially confused about why Shepard would order them into a place where they would get boxed in, they reluctantly followed him inside. After closing the door behind them, Shepard ordered everyone down on the floor and to lie as flat as they could. He then pulled up his omni-tool and made a call to Cortez.

"Cortez," he said, "we found Williams but she's wounded. Are you close?"

"Yes sir," Cortez replied, "I picked up the passengers you wanted me to get from the Normandy and came back with the shuttle's stealth systems on the whole way. We're hovering in the shuttle near the headquarters."

"Good. We're in the center of a hallway on the building's south side and we have mechs closing in on our position. Execute Plan J."

"Roger that Captain. Hang tight, we'll be there soon."

The sound of mechs getting closer made Shepard wonder if the plan would be activated on time. Despite being on the ground, everyone had their weapons ready. The mechs had just reached the door when the sound of a shuttle was heard. Shepard smiled. The Calvary had arrived. For added confirmation, a muffled but recognizable voice was heard.

"IT'S JOKIN' TIME!"

The battle cry was followed by machine gun fire, glass shattering and mechs blowing up. The machine gun rounds came through the walls of the office but with everyone on the ground they flew safely above them. Shepard carefully moved so that he was situated on top of Ashley and shielding her from the shrapnel. The gun fire and explosions continued for several minutes until Cortez came over Shepard's comm. telling him that the hallway was cleared for the moment and that it was safe for them to come out. Shepard opened the door and was greeted by the site of several destroyed mechs, a shattered glass wall and a shuttle with its doors open and Joker manning the shuttle's mounted machine gun.

"Hey Captain," he said, "did you call for a crippled machine gunner?"

Always with the jokes, Shepard thought. It was then that Dr. Chakwas appeared next to Joker carrying a medical bag. With no more enemies in sight, Shepard picked Ashley up and carried her on to the shuttle and laid her down on some of the seats. While Chakwas went to work, Shepard turned to Garrus and Tali who were busy replenishing their thermal clip supply.

"I'll take Ashley back to the Normandy," he said, "you two find Dana."

It was then that Shepard felt someone tapping his arm. He turned to see that it was Ashley. He told her to lay still but she shook her head and tried to speak.

"Y…you should go…skipper," she said, "you need…to…stop Dana."

Shepard replied, "Garrus and Tali will get her Ash. I'm not leaving you."

"Please Mark," Ashley said as a tear began to appear, "I appreciate that you want to stay with me but you're needed in there. We lost so many of our friends because of that bitch. If she gets away…and you could have done something to stop it…I wouldn't be able to live with myself."

"Ash…I..."

"Please. I'll be fine."

"Not unless we get you to the Normandy quickly," said Chakwas, "Captain you do whatever you think is best but I am going to need a hand here."

Shepard didn't want to leave Ashley's side but ultimately he had to accept that she was right. Dana was his problem and he had to be the one to stop her. Besides he was not the right person to help Chakwas with Ashley. He turned and spoke to Tali.

"Tali stay here on the shuttle," he said, "help Chakwas with anything she needs."

"Will do Shepard," Tali replied.

"Are you coming Garrus?"

Garrus smiled and loaded a fresh clip into his rifle, "are you kidding? I'm right behind you."

Before standing up to leave, Shepard leaned over and kissed Ashley.

"I love you," he said.

"I love you too Mark," Ashley replied.

After Shepard gave Ashley one final hug, he and Garrus hopped off the shuttle and back into the Morrison building. They turned and watched as the shuttle doors closed and the shuttle took off, vanishing into the distance. When the shuttle was gone, Shepard and Garrus began their search for Dana. All the while, Shepard was thinking about how everything was finally going to come to an end. Dana was not getting away from him this time. One way or another, he was going to take her down.


	45. 4-15

Dana managed to reach the underground bunker several levels below the Morrison Company headquarters without incident. As long as the mechs kept Shepard and the others busy, or killed them if she was lucky, she would have all the time she needed to tie up a few loose ends. Not that she had to really worry about them finding her anyway. When Dana had arranged for the bunker to be built, she made sure that the entrance was cleverly concealed so that it couldn't be found by anyone unless they were looking for it.

Before she did anything else, Dana took an opportunity to soak in what was likely going to be her last time in the bunker. The construction of the bunker was a lot of work but it wasn't nearly as hard as getting approval for it to be built in the first place. When she first pitched the idea to Morrison that the headquarters should have a bunker installed, it was immediately rejected because Morrison couldn't see any practical reason why a bunker was necessary. Dana had to resort to scaring Morrison by explaining that Shanxi would be an ideal place for terrorists to launch an attack using weapons of mass destruction and they would need a bunker to give them a chance at survival should that happen. Fortunately Morrison was a person who was slightly paranoid and thus easily bought Dana's logic. When the bunker was finished, Morrison gave one final inspection to see that it met their expectations and never entered it again. This gave Dana the privacy she needed to use the bunker for her real purpose, to serve as her base of operations for her vendetta against Shepard.

While the bunker had been useful for Dana's purposes, she was now left with no choice but to destroy it. It was highly unlikely Shepard came after her without letting anyone else know what he was doing and why. Regardless of whether Shepard and his squad died or not, many inquiries would be launched by several law enforcement agencies and anyone of them could result in someone stumbling on the bunker and the incriminating evidence that would guarantee Dana life in prison. The only way for Dana to avoid that was to wipe her terminal's hard drive and destroy the bunker.

(BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!)

An alarm on the terminal caught Dana's attention before she could begin the data wiping operation. The screen lit up with a message reading "INTRUDER ALERT". The message confused Dana as she had turned off the security measures that detect threats inside the building. That meant the alarm was set off by something outside the building. If Shepard and his squad were already inside then who else could possibly be trying to get in? She pulled up the building's external cameras and what she saw made her jaw drop.

An Alliance shuttle was hovering outside the building and Dana could make out the muzzle flash from its onboard mounted machine gun. The gunfire stopped a few seconds later and Dana watched as Shepard and his squad hopped out of the building and onto the shuttle. More troubling for Dana was the fact that Shepard appeared to be carrying his wife aboard with him. Dana's angry panting got heavier as she watched each person board and she began to glow blue as her biotics started flaring up. When the last squadmember boarded, Dana lost it and bioticly threw the large TV screen mounted on the wall to her left into the opposite wall causing it to shatter. She couldn't understand it. Where did that shuttle come from? The success of her plan hinged on the fact that Shepard rarely had any kind of backup plan when he went into battle. Dana's only explanation for this unexpected development was that Shepard had finally managed to outsmart her. That coupled with the fact that it looked like he was actually going to be able keep his wife from dying infuriated her even more. Her plan was falling apart in front of her eyes and there was nothing she could do about it.

Dana was about to shatter the terminal when she saw two figures jump out of the shuttle. This was followed by the shuttle flying out of the camera's view. Dana quickly pushed a few buttons to bring up the interior feed from that section of the building. The camera revealed the figures that jumped out of the shuttle were Shepard and Garrus. In an instant, the anger on Dana's face turned into a sinister smile as she chuckled. She couldn't believe it. Shepard had the chance to leave with his friends and seriously injured wife but instead he and Garrus chose to stay behind. Maybe her plan wasn't ruined after all.

"You might have been able to save your wife Shepard," she said, "but she would have been better off dead. The only thing you will accomplish by staying is making her a widow."

With that last remark and after ensuring all data on the terminal had been wiped clean, Dana shattered the terminal by bioticly throwing it across the room. She then pulled up her omni-tool and pushed a button that caused a message to appear reading "BUNKER SELF-DESTRUCTION WILL COMMENCE IN ONE MINUTE." For the first thirty seconds of the countdown, Dana walked over to a nearby weapons locker and pulled out her assault rifle. After she grabbed a few grenades and extra thermal clips, Dana exited the bunker with seconds to spare. As the bunker exploded behind her, she put a fresh clip in her rifle. In a few moments, she would accomplish the two things she had been working towards for several years, killing Captain Mark Shepard and getting revenge for Julia's death.

* * *

Joker's machine gun barrage had taken out the majority of the two hundred mechs. Any mechs that remained were easily taken down by Shepard and Garrus as they searched the building for Dana. Unfortunately considering how big the building was, it could take until morning for them to search the whole building and even then they still might not be able to find her.

"Shepard I think it's possible that Dana has already fled," Garrus said, "you said so yourself that Dana wouldn't have guessed that you would have a shuttle on standby to get us out. She probably figures the mechs have killed us by now."

Shepard shook his head, "Dana has spent years plotting to have me killed Garrus. She wouldn't leave it up to mechs to do it. Until she has proof that I'm dead, she's not going anywhere."

"Well where do you want to look next?"

(KA-BOOOOOM!)

Before Shepard could answer, the floor they were on shook as an explosion was heard below them.

"I think we should go investigate what that explosion was," Shepard replied.

Garrus nodded and followed Shepard towards a nearby stairwell and down to the lower levels. It was on the first floor where they found the blast site. They were in what appeared to be the Morrison Company's server room….or at least what was the server room. None of the servers in the room were spared by the blast. Shepard could only imagine what the technicians would think when they came back to work only to find this disaster area.

"Shepard look at this," Garrus called.

Shepard walked over to Garrus who was looking at one server tower in particular that was up against a wall. When he took a closer look for himself, he saw what had caught Garrus' attention. There were no signs of any computer fragments on the floor. Every other server in the room had pieces of their insides lying around them but this one had no such mess. It was almost as if the server didn't have anything inside it to begin with. At second glance, Shepard also realized that this server was right at the heart of the explosion.

"Give me a hand moving this tower Garrus," he said "I want to see what's behind it."

It took several attempts but they were able to move the server just enough that they could see the entire wall behind it…except it wasn't wall. It was a large pile of rubble. Shepard moved a few pieces of rubble aside. It wasn't much but he was able to see through it just enough to see that there was a hallway behind it. Though it got darker the further he and Garrus looked down the hall, they were able to make out a spot where the floor seemed to drop down. It had to be a stairwell of some kind.

Slightly confused by what he was seeing, Shepard pulled up his omni-tool and looked for the blueprints Feron sent them. To his surprise, the blueprints did show a stairwell attached to the server room. The stairwell led to a room that was labeled on the blueprints as "emergency bunker". Shepard couldn't help but admire the cleverness to the idea of hiding a bunker behind a server tower. But what he couldn't understand was why would the bunker be rigged to blow? The only thing a bunker would be used for is to protect people from a worst case scenario terrorist attack and, as evidenced by all the damaged server towers, an explosion would cripple the Morrison Company's operations indefinitely. Unless….

"Dammit," Shepard said, "this is going to be Julia all over again."

"What do you mean?" asked Garrus.

"The only reason Dana would casually blow up the bunker despite the risk to the server towers would be to ensure we never saw what was inside. I think she was secretly using the bunker as her base of operations. Now that Dana has blown it to kingdom come, odds are we won't be able to recover anything that ties her to the attacks she's funded the past two years (sigh). I can't believe I'm saying this Garrus but it's possible Dana could get away with this."

"But what about the profile we used to identify her as the backer in the first place? That's pretty convincing evidence."

"Garrus you know as well as I do that profiles are just tools that we use to narrow down suspect lists. The courts will accept it but they can't convict a person based on a profile alone. All the hard evidence we could have used just went up in smoke and we've killed all the people that worked for Dana so no one will testify against her. Garrus I'm worried that the only way we can keep Dana from getting away with this is if I kill her and use my Spectre status to justify it. Look what happened the last time I did that."

"Not necessarily Shepard. We still have Ashley. Any doctor will tell you her wound was not self-inflicted. Chakwas will get her back to health and she'll be able to testify about Dana trying to kill her and how she saw Dana kill Liara. I understand it doesn't help us with proving she supplied terrorists with weapons and equipment and for her role in our other friends' deaths but those charges would guarantee a life sentence at least."

"I guess so but that's not the main reason I want Ashley to pull through."

"I know Shepard. I was just answering your question. Let's just focus on finding Dana and let whatever happens, happen."

Realizing Garrus was right, Shepard nodded and led Garrus out of the server room to continue their search.

* * *

Shepard and Garrus had worked their way up the first three floors of both the main headquarters and the factory without much incident. It hadn't been easy to move fast as the slightest noise they heard or movement they spotted would make them nearly jump. Just like back when Shepard was on the Worthington, he and Garrus had the numbers but Dana's knowledge of the factory and the fact she was probably watching them right now gave her the upper hand. If they didn't find Dana fast, they could lose the fight at any moment.

On the fourth floor of the factory, Shepard and Garrus walked into the section of the factory dedicated to making the larger appliances. These appliances included laundry machines, refrigerators and stoves. The appliances weren't the only things large about the room. The room itself was humongous. Height wise it was two stories tall and covered the full width and length of the building. Looking up, Shepard and Garrus could see some of the machines on a conveyer built that ran above them. On the one hand this room gave them plenty of cover but it also gave Dana more places to hide.

(KA-BOOM)

The sound of an explosion from above forced Shepard and Garrus to look back up towards the hanging conveyor belt. What they saw nearly made their jaws drop. The explosion had severed some of the supports and now the appliances on the belt were falling down towards them. The duo made a run for whatever cover they could find as one by one the appliances came crashing down. Garrus was the first one to find cover in a tall refrigerator that had not had the shelves put in yet but Shepard was having a hard time getting to any cover himself. Every time he tried, a machine would crash in front of him forcing him to change course. Finally he spotted a refrigerator that would shelter him and made a break for it.

(BANG!)

A pain hit Shepard in his left leg that forced him down to the ground. He let out a muffled grunt as he reached for the source of the pain and felt the hole where the bullet entered it. He tried to get up and continue towards the cover but the pain in his leg made him fall back down. To make matters worse, he spotted the last of the machines from the conveyor belt falling towards him. Unable to get up, he was left with no other choice but to roll out of its path. As an added bonus, he rolled right towards the cover he was trying to get to. He sat himself up just as more bullets hit the floor next to him. Shepard was now pinned down behind a stove and with a bullet in his leg. He called out toward the refrigerator Garrus was hiding in.

"Garrus I'm hit!" he shouted.

"I'll be right there," Garrus called back.

Suddenly more gunfire was heard and Shepard could hear the bullets hitting something in the direction of Garrus' hiding spot.

"Garrus, are you alright?"

"Yeah but apparently Dana doesn't want me to get to you. Don't worry though, I'll figure something out."

With nothing to do but wait, Shepard took a moment to finally take a closer look at the wound in his leg. The bullet had hit him in the thigh but fortunately it appeared to have gone clean through. It hurt like hell but as long as he got some medi-gel and quick he should be able to walk on it again. He pulled up his omni-tool and prepared to administer the medi-gel but nothing happened. A second look at his display explained why, he didn't have any medi-gel left. He had used all of his medi-gel to stabilize Ashley and he didn't stop to resupply when he was on the shuttle. Without the medi-gel he wasn't going anywhere. Garrus was bound to have some medi-gel on him but first he had to get past the gunfire Dana was still laying down.

(THUD)

A new sound in Garrus' direction caught Shepard's attention. When he snuck a peek from his hiding spot, he saw that somehow the refrigerator Garrus was hiding behind had moved a few feet towards him. Suddenly it rose a few inches and then started moving again. Shepard smiled at Garrus' resourcefulness. The refrigerator was a perfect riot shield. Normally though Shepard would have thought only a krogan would be strong enough to lift one by themself but apparently he underestimated Garrus' strength. After a few more cycles of lifting the refrigerator and moving a few feet, Garrus had finally reached Shepard's position and knelt down to administer medi-gel. A few seconds later the pain in Shepard's leg was starting to go away.

"Thanks Garrus," said Shepard, "I owe you one."

"I'll add it to the ever growing list of things you owe me for," Garrus joked, "on my way here I saw an exit further in that direction. We can probably make it if we run for it."

"Good idea but first we need to…."

Shepard didn't have a chance to finish his thought as he and Garrus were both surprised by the sudden appearance of a grenade right next to them. Throwing caution to the wind, Shepard and Garrus made a break for the exit while firing in the direction they roughly suspected Dana to be. The grenade exploded just behind them taking the stove and refrigerator with it. The blast temporally knocked them down. They were barely able to get back up and moving before Dana fired in their direction. Blindly firing and hoping at least one bullet would hit Dana, Shepard and Garrus reached the exit by just managing to stay one step ahead of Dana's bullets.

"YOU CAN RUN BUT YOU CAN'T HIDE FOREVER SHEPARD!" they heard Dana shout. "EVENTUALLY YOU NEED TO FACE ME AND I'LL BE WAITING FOR YOU!"

* * *

When Shepard and Garrus managed to get to upper levels of the room they were in, Dana was gone. They had raced there as fast as they could but they should have known that Dana wasn't going to stay there. The level they were on was the highest level in the factory. If Dana wanted to keep going up she would have to return to the main headquarters building. Any sane person would try to get to lower levels and escape but Dana had that opportunity when she destroyed her bunker. Instead she chose to stay and fight. Even though Shepard knew that Dana was going to be trapping herself by going further up, he also knew from experience that a criminal is most dangerous when they're trapped. Still, with no other choice, Shepard and Garrus headed for the exit that would take them back to the headquarters.

(SLAM!)

Shepard had barely entered the headquarters building when a large bulkhead door came crashing down behind him. A feeling of dread instantly overtook him as he remembered what happened to Vega when an eerily similar situation happened at Buckingham Palace. He was initially relieved to see that Garrus wasn't underneath the door when it came down but that didn't mean he was better off on the other side of the door. He called out to Garrus but didn't get a response. Before he could consider trying to force the door open, Dana's voice came over the intercom.

"Sorry Shepard," she said, "but the detective was making our fight a little unfair. Don't worry, he's fine. I don't believe in wasting my time taking another shot at him so I merely made sure he can't enter headquarters from the factory. Oh and in case you were thinking of waiting for him to rejoin you before coming to find me, you should probably know that I can still change my mind about killing the detective and release a poison into the factory's ventilation system. So I would strongly suggest that you don't dilly-dally and come and face me."

As much as Shepard didn't want to run into a fight alone, he couldn't afford to take chances with Garrus' life. He had already lost enough friends. He raised his rifle into the ready position and proceeded further up the building.

* * *

Four levels up and Shepard still hadn't found Dana. Without someone watching his back, Shepard was forced to move slower than he normally would so he could constantly look behind him in case Dana snuck down a level using another stairwell and came back up from behind him. He was making his way up the stairs to the final level, the executive offices. Being the last level for him to search, his adrenaline increased in preparation for the confrontation that was likely to happen.

Shepard didn't expect there to be much of a difference between the executive offices and the lawyer offices he saw earlier, but what he saw on the other side of the stairwell door proved him wrong. The most obvious difference was the security station situated next to the reception desk. Shepard wondered how many angry customers the Morrison Company had if they felt it was necessary to have this heavy of a security presence outside the head offices. Then again they also had a security bunker on the lower levels which even to Shepard seemed a little over the top. Odds were Morrison was just paranoid.

Speaking of paranoia, Shepard was feeling it as well. Dana was trapped in every sense of the word up here. Even if Shepard tripped the security sensors, Dana wouldn't be able come out from whatever she was hiding in without Shepard seeing her first. Acting on hunch, he glanced further down the hall and managed to make out a sign pointing towards a stairwell. Unfortunately the arrow wasn't pointing towards the stairwell Shepard had just exited from. Without taking a second to aim, Shepard spun around and fired his rifle back at the stairwell.

"AAAHHHH!"

A scream followed by the sound of someone falling down stairs was heard behind the stairwell door. Shepard ran back into the stairwell and looked down the stairs but was surprised to see only Dana's assault rifle. He then heard a door open and shut. It was the door to the next level down: the showroom floor. Shepard ran down after Dana hoping to find her before she got too far into the room. He wasn't expecting much of a fight from her since she left her weapon behind. When he entered the showroom though, he realized he had overlooked one critical piece of information: Dana was a biotic.

When he entered the showroom, Dana was standing among the different appliance showcases. She was glowing blue as her biotics flared up. Before Shepard could react, he was hit by a warp attack. He hunched over in pain as it felt like all his insides were being scrambled. The pain caused him to drop his weapon. Dana used the opportunity to charge at Shepard ready to throw a biotic powered punch. Shepard was barely able dodge the punch and made a break towards the vacuum cleaner showcase. They weren't the most practical of weapons but Shepard could take time to pull out his pistol and he needed something to use against Dana. He picked up one of the heavier vacuums he could still lift and chucked as hard as he could towards Dana. Dana just used her biotics to catch it and throw it away from her. Shepard threw another vacuum but it had the same result. Still Shepard tried one more time but before he could throw it, Dana lifted Shepard up with her biotics and threw him towards the microwave showcase. If it wasn't for Shepard's armor, the landing would have hurt him a lot more than it did. Sadly the pain from the earlier warp attack he sustained made it hard for him to get up quickly and Dana was already on top of him. Shepard tried to throw a right cross. Dana saw it coming and used her left arm to block it and threw a biotic powered punch right to Shepard's abdomen. Shepard's armor shattered as took it just enough of the punch to keep it from killing him out right. The blow also caused Shepard to stumble back. When he recovered he tried a punch with his left arm. This time Dana grabbed the arm, pulled on it to bring Shepard closer to her and used her free arm to deliver a biotic powered blow to Shepard's arm that broke it. Even Shepard couldn't help but cry out in pain after taking a blow like that. Dana followed by pushing Shepard back a bit and did a biotic powered spinning kick that struck Shepard in the chest. The power behind the kick sent Shepard flying across the showroom. If he had gone a little bit further, he would have crashed through the exterior windows and plummet down fourteen stories. Shepard clutched his chest. Dana's kick must have broken some of his ribs. He tried to get back up but the pain from all three blows he took made it impossible. There was nothing he could do as Dana walked casually up to him, bent down and took his pistol before he had a chance to pull it out himself, and pointed it right at Shepard's head.

"This is for Julia you son of a bitch," she growled as she began to pull the trigger.

(BANG!)

A bullet struck Dana in the shoulder. She and Shepard both looked towards the sound of the shot and saw Garrus entering from the other side of the showroom and firing more shots from his pistol. Dana growled in anger as she pointed her gun at Garrus and fired three shots of her own. Each shot made contact and Shepard watched in horror as Garrus fell. Shepard's horrified expression quickly vanished as his face became red with anger. He looked up to Dana who had now turned back to face him and for the first time appeared to be nervous. Despite the pain, Shepard forced himself up and grabbed Dana. He turned her around and charged forward sending both of them through the window. Dana instinctively fired up her biotics to slow down their fourteen story descent. During the fall, she tried to force Shepard off of her but Shepard held on tight, only occasionally loosening his grip in attempt to grab his gun back from Dana. When they gently hit the ground, Shepard rolled off of Dana and stood up with his gun back in hand and pointing at Dana. Dana tried to use a slash attack to pull the pistol out of Shepard's hand but to her surprise nothing happened. She tried again but got the same result. It was then she realized that she was feeling a little weak. When she tried to stand up she just fell back down.

"Overdid it on the biotics Dana?" Shepard asked.

While biotics can make any person extremely powerful, in humans its usage requires the burning of a lot of calories. Unless the person had been trained in extreme biotic conditioning, they could easily burn enough calories with their biotics to exhaust them. Dana apparently had no such training and used her abilities so much that she made herself unable to stand up on her own. Now with no weapon and unable to use her abilities, Dana was defenseless.

"Well go ahead Shepard," she said, "shoot me. You know you want to. I've killed seven of your friends, tried to kill two others and more than likely killed you wife."

There was nothing Shepard wanted to do more than pull the trigger and kill Dana. She had brought him so much pain and suffering for the last two years. She deserved to die. But something was stopping him from doing it. His hand shook as if there was a struggle inside it between nerve signals fighting to decide if the finger should pull the trigger. Dana continued to tell him to shoot her but Shepard couldn't do it. Suddenly his comm. beeped and a familiar voice greeted him.

"Shepard, it's Garrus. Are you all right down there?"

"I'm…fine," Shepard said with shock, "how…?"

"I survived taking a rocket to one side of my face Shepard. It's going to take more than a few bullets to bring me down. Also I heard from Cortez when I was making my way to you. He said he's on his way and he wanted me to tell you that Ashley is on the Normandy. Dr. Chakwas and Tali were able stabilize her. She's going to be just fine Shepard."

A huge relief came over Shepard. Not only was his best friend still alive but he now had confirmation that his wife was going to make it. A small tear appeared and fell down his face. This didn't go unnoticed by Dana who mistook it for him still being indecisive and was now shouting at Shepard to kill her. With all the good news subsiding Shepard's anger, he was now able to think clearer and realized what he had almost done. If he had pulled the trigger, he would have killed an unarmed woman which went against his paragon nature. He would have ended up proving himself to be the monster Dana wanted everyone to believe he was. If Dana died, she would still win. There was no way Shepard could allow that and let his friends deaths be in vain. His hand stopped shaking. He had made his decision about what to do with Dana.

"Dana Thompson," he said softly, "you're under arrest for supplying weapons and equipment to wanted terrorists, the murder of Dr. Liara T'Soni and the attempted murder of a Council Spectre."

As Shepard proceeded to read Dana her rights, Dana's expression conveyed disbelief. Shepard didn't know if it was because of his decision to not kill her or because he revealed to her that Ashley was still alive. Dana repeatedly shook her head as Shepard moved behind her and handcuffed her hands behind her back.

"Why?" she said. "Why would you spare me?"

Shepard didn't reply as he brought Dana to her feet and began escorting her back toward the headquarters' main entrance.

"I've done terrible things to you," Dana continued as her voice got louder, "whereas my sister never did anything to you. Why spare me and not her?! Why?! Dammit Shepard, answer me!"

Shepard didn't answer.

"Fine but just so you know, this changes nothing Shepard! We both know the monster you really are and I will not rest until the whole galaxy knows the truth! My sister will be avenged!"

Finally Shepard couldn't take Dana's ranting anymore. He pulled out a gag and put it in Dana's mouth. Normally he would knock an uncooperative criminal out but in his condition he was in no shape to carry a person. He brought Dana to the headquarters entrance just in time to meet Garrus as he was exiting the building.

"There's our ride," he said pointing to the shuttle approaching from the distance.

Shepard nodded and handed Dana over to Garrus.

"Detective Vakarian," he said in an official tone, "I'm putting you in charge of the guard detail for our prisoner. We're taking her back to the Citadel. C-SEC will handle her from there.

"Yes sir," Garrus replied giving Shepard a quick salute before leading Dana into the shuttle.

Watching Dana climb aboard the shuttle, Shepard managed to tune out his pain to muster a small smile. Not really a happy one but more of a content smile. He was content because, at long last, his search for the mystery backer was over. He managed to capture Dana and did it with his paragon nature still intact. As Shepard sat down in the shuttle, he just kept repeating to himself, "it's over, it's finally over."


	46. THE FINAL CHAPTER

It was a tense few minutes after the shuttle landed on the Normandy. Shepard was not taking any chances with Dana so he had ordered ship security to meet them in the shuttle bay. When the shuttle doors opened, Shepard, Garrus and Dana were greeted by a line of soldiers that led to the elevator. Each one of them had a rifle pointed right at Dana. The rifles followed Dana as Shepard and Garrus escorted her to the elevator. Once inside the elevator, two soldiers boarded with them and the group rode up to the engineering deck.

The engineering team greeted them when they exited the elevator. While they weren't technically soldiers, the majority of the team could handle weapons when needed and they all had their hands on their side arms ready to draw them at the first sign of trouble. They watched as Dana was led into the portside cargo hold. The room was not visited often by the Normandy crew making it ideal for use as the ship's brig (jail). Shepard helped Dana sit down on a cot that he had asked the crew to put together before they arrived. Garrus and the two soldiers from the elevator kept a careful watch on Dana as Shepard took off her handcuffs. The last thing Shepard did was replace the handcuffs with special wristbands that were specifically designed to keep a prisoner with biotic abilities from being able to use them. Dana let out a huff once the wristbands were on and laid herself down on the cot and rolled on to her side so that she was facing away from Shepard and the others.

"Please excuse us," Shepard said dismissing the others.

When the room was clear, Shepard stared at Dana for a few seconds. He had been chasing this woman for over two years and for the longest time had thought of her as nothing but a monster. But now, looking at her lying on the cot, he couldn't help but feel a little bit of pity for her. There was probably a time where Dana was a kind and generous person. Then one tragic day, she lost her last remaining family. If Julia's death hadn't hurt her enough, Dana had to hear people say that her sister was killed by a Council Spectre because she had supposedly killed the crew of the Worthington. All it took was one really bad day to make Dana obsessed with killing Shepard and willing to kill other people to do it. The small amounts of pity Shepard was feeling for Dana prompted him to talk to her even though he knew she likely didn't care what he had to say.

"Dana," he said, "I know nothing I say is going to make you forgive me but I really am sorry about what happened to Julia. I did everything I could to end the situation peacefully and it really hurts me that I wasn't able to. Whether you believe me or not, I just wanted you to know that."

As Shepard turned to head out of the room, he thought he heard Dana sniffling. Shepard knew it was likely that she was only crying over her sister's death and not his apology. Even so, it meant she had heard what he said and that was all that mattered. He half turned around to get one last glance at Dana. With nothing more to say or do, he exited the hold and closed the door. When Dana had vanished from his view, Shepard felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders and he let out a relaxing sigh. At long last, the mystery backer had been locked away and couldn't endanger anyone ever again.

The engineering team had returned to their posts while Shepard was in the hold with Dana. The only people left in the hallway when Shepard left the hold were Garrus and the two soldiers who accompanied them from the cargo deck. Shepard made his way back to the elevator while Garrus stayed behind to give orders to one of the soldiers.

"I want two guards manning this door at all times," he said, "she doesn't come out and the only ones who are allowed to go in are Captain Shepard and me. Understood?"

The soldier saluted, "yes sir."

Garrus returned the salute and then rejoined Shepard at the elevator.

"I hope you'll forgive me for listening in," he said when the doors closed, "but I was a little surprised to hear you apologize to Dana."

"Regardless of what Dana's done Garrus," Shepard replied, "she still deserved to hear an apology from me for what happened to Julia. I know it was a justifiable kill but she needed to know that I feel bad about having to do it. I wonder if I had taken the time to find her and tell her that right after it happened, maybe she wouldn't have let her anger for me grow to the point that it made her do what she did."

"Shepard you can't blame yourself for that. You had no way of knowing that investigating the Worthington and killing Julia was going to lead to all this."

"I know Garrus. Still that's one of the reasons I'm always a little nervous about killing people and why I always think hard about the decisions I have to make. I just never know what far-reaching consequences will happen after I make a choice."

"Well if it helps, during the entire time I've known you, I've never doubted that you made the best possible decision in all the choices you've faced. Anyway Tali is waiting for me up on the crew deck. Are you heading up to there as well to see Ashley?"

Shepard shook his head, "Not yet. Dr. Chakwas sent me a message while we were on the shuttle. She said that Ashley is resting right now and likely won't wake up for a couple of hours. To ensure Ashley gets the rest she needs, the med bay is temporarily closed to visitors. I'm meeting Dr. Chakwas in my office so that she can patch me up without the risk of disturbing Ashley. From there I'll probably head up to the comm. room to call Hackett for our mission debrief. It's best to get it out of the way now so that when Ashley wakes up I can be with her and not have to worry about needing to be somewhere else."

"Sounds like a plan. Let me or Tali known if there's anything we can do to help."

Shepard smiled, "will do."

* * *

It took an hour for Dr. Chakwas to be able treat Shepard's injuries. Medical science had made many significant advances over the past few decades but there were still some wounds that couldn't be healed instantly. Unfortunately for Shepard, fractures fell in that category. His broken left arm was put into a cast to help set it back into place and he was prescribed painkillers for his broken ribs. As long as he took it easy, his wounds were expected to heal completely within six weeks. Normally Dr. Chakwas would have to strap Shepard down to get him to listen to her when she said to take it easy but Shepard didn't think that was going to be necessary this time. The only thing he was going to want to do the next few weeks was take care of Ashley. It was probably going to take a little negotiating but he figured he would get permission from the Alliance and the Council to take some time off to do just that. However he was going to wait until he spoke to Ashley before making that request. While she would appreciate the sweet gesture on his part, she might also feel somewhat guilty about him taking care of her full time when he could be out in the galaxy saving other people. Talking to her beforehand might help alleviate some of that guilt.

In the meantime however, he still had to talk to Hackett to debrief him about what happened on Shanxi. As he made his way to the comm. room, he started wondering how mad Hackett was going to be when he talked to him. Unknown to the rest of the crew, Shepard had to cut a few corners so that they could get to Shanxi quickly. The biggest corner he cut was not letting Hackett know about his plan to storm the Morrison Company headquarters to save Ashley and capture or kill Dana Thompson. It wasn't that Shepard didn't trust Hackett. Hackett had always trusted Shepard's judgment in the past. Sadly with Hackett now being a politician and given the reputation of the Morrison Company and its staff, there was a chance even Hackett might have been a little hesitant to give the green light for the operation right away.

The holographic image of Hackett greeted Shepard in the comm. room when he arrived. Sure enough Hackett wasn't looking too happy with him but at he didn't seem to be too upset either. Shepard figured it was because Hackett was now seeing his injuries for the first time and they conveyed to Hackett that he had been through enough punishment. Shepard came to attention and saluted to which Hackett saluted back. With the formalities out of the way, the debriefing could begin.

"You look like hell Captain," Hackett said commenting on Shepard's injuries.

"Well I certainly feel like I've been through hell the last few days sir," Shepard replied, "my injuries aside, I'm ready to give my report on the Shanxi operation."

"You mean the operation that you chose not to inform me about. I don't have a problem with you storming the Morrison Company headquarters Shepard. As a Spectre you are authorized to conduct your mission as you see fit. What I wish you would have done was at least tell me what you were doing so that I could have been ready to handle any potential political blowback."

"I'm really sorry about that sir but I wanted to ensure you had deniability if the operation had failed. I know you trust me enough that you would have believed in my reasons for wanting to launch the assault but I knew the same couldn't be said for everyone else at the embassy. You may be one of humanity's highest ranking officials but you still would have had to discuss my plan with the others and they would have done everything in their power to convince you not to approve it thus making us lose time that we couldn't afford."

Hackett sighed, "as much as I hate to say it, you were right not to trust my colleagues. The Morrison Company is a very respectable business in Alliance space and several of our officials own shares in the company. Trying to convince them that the company's CFO had been funding terrorists would have taken forever. In fact, now that word is starting to spread about your operation, some of the people here believe you're insane for thinking that and they're not the only ones. The embassy has already been receiving several calls from advocates who represent the Morrison Company. Apparently they are not happy that their headquarters has been shot up and their CFO has been arrested. According to Ms. Thompson's colleagues, when she was not managing the company's finances, she was actively involved with several charitable causes. They say she was always looking out for the well-being of other people and wouldn't hurt a fly. They just can't believe that she is capable of doing the things that you believe she did, especially the part where you say she had a role in Ms. Morrison's death."

"Whether they believe it or not, it's the truth. I realize we don't have any physical evidence but she fits our profile of the mystery backer, she had motive and opportunity and when Williams recovers she will testify that Dana, posing as Ms. Morrison, killed Dr. T'Soni and tried to kill her."

A look of shock appeared on Hackett's face, "wait, what happened to the commander?"

"Dana kidnapped her and she was stabbed when she tried to escape. Fortunately we were able to get her back to the Normandy in time. She's resting in the med bay now."

Hackett breathed a sigh of relief, "That's good. Not just because it gives us a case against Ms. Thompson but because I'm glad to hear she's okay. I'm also happy that we can finally put the mystery backer case behind us. I know it hasn't been easy on you but I commend you for your efforts in closing it. Now unfortunately until we can set up a trial date for Ms. Thompson and bring her crimes to light, there are some people who are going to be unhappy with what you've done and will want you to come in and explain your actions."

"I understand sir. We're on our way to the Citadel now. I could be at the embassy first thing tomorrow morning."

"I appreciate your willingness to come in but I didn't say that you had to."

"Sir?"

"You've done so much for the galaxy Shepard and I think you've been through enough the last few days. The last thing you need is to deal with a bunch of politicians with sticks up their asses. Besides there's no way in hell I'm going to let them pull you away from where you're currently needed the most. You and I both know that the commander is not just another member of your crew. She's your wife and she needs you by her side while she recovers. I'll take care of everything here so that you don't need to come in at all. You just focus on taking some time off to be with your wife. You've earned it."

Shepard smiled and saluted, "thank you sir."

Hackett smiled back and saluted as well, "great work today Captain, Hackett out."

* * *

With his debrief with Hackett over and nothing else requiring his immediate attention, Shepard spent the next few hours in his office on the crew deck as he waited for word from Dr. Chakwas that Ashley had woken up. He wasn't alone as Garrus, Tali, Traynor, Cortez and Joker were waiting with him. The group waited in silence for the most part with only the occasional small talk occurring once in a while. The current topic of discussion was Shepard explaining to Traynor, Cortez and Joker how he had figured out Dana was the backer.

"Man," said Joker, "and I thought Eden Prime was going to turn out to be bigger than we thought. I never would have guessed all this would have happened when I spotted that ship."

"You still did the right thing looking into it Captain," said Cortez, "that ship might have been floating adrift forever if you hadn't and a lot of families would never have known what happened to their loved ones."

"Thanks Cortez," Shepard replied though it was obvious it still didn't make him feel better about all that happened afterwards.

"It's okay Captain," Traynor said, "once Commander Williams wakes up and you've talked to her, I know you will feel better."

Shepard smiled, "you're right Traynor. Listen, I know I've already said this to Garrus and Tali but I want to thank all of you for your help. Ashley and I couldn't have asked for a better crew or better friends."

Traynor nodded approvingly, "it was our pleasure Captain."

"We're always happy to help," said Cortez.

"Although I probably should stick to just helping you by flying the Normandy," Joker chuckled, "I think I bruised a rib firing the shuttle's mounted turret."

Joker's comment managed to get everyone to laugh. The laughter instantly ceased when the office doors opened and Dr. Chakwas entered. Everyone rose to their feet as they eagerly waited to hear what she had to say.

"The commander is awake now," she said to everyone's relief, "her vitals are stable and her wound is healing nicely. As long as she takes it easy for the next week or so, she should make a full recovery. All in all, we couldn't have asked for a better outcome."

While everyone else was excited by the news, there was only one thing that Shepard wanted to know at that moment.

"Can I see her now?" he asked.

"Of course Captain. She actually asked me to send you in when I told her you were anxiously waiting to see her. The rest of you however will have to wait a while longer I'm afraid. I don't want to overwhelm the commander with too many visitors right now."

"That's alright Doctor," said Garrus, "Shepard's the one who needs to see her the most right now anyway. We're just happy to hear that Ashley's going to be okay."

Everyone else nodded in agreement. As Joker, Traynor and Cortez left to return to their posts, they each asked Shepard to give Ashley their best. Garrus and Tali were the last to leave.

"So I've been meaning to ask you Tali," Shepard said, "did you and Garrus have a wedding date picked out. With everything that's happened, I'd think it would give you incentive to have it as soon as possible."

Tali replied, "we did think about that right after Rannoch but we've ultimately decided not to rush our wedding. Especially because we both still want you and Ashley to be a part of it. We're going to wait until Ashley is all better before we pick a date."

"Sounds like a plan. I'll be sure to let Ashley know."

"Well Tali and I are going to head back down to engineering," said Garrus, "I'm going to take a post guarding Dana's cell and Tali will be assisting Adams and his team. Give Ashley our best."

Now that everyone had left the office, Shepard made his way to the med bay. Dr. Chakwas had left the windows in a tinted state so Shepard wasn't able to see inside. It didn't matter though because he would soon see Ashley once the med bay doors opened. After everything that he had been through the last few days, seeing Ashley was just what he needed to lift his spirits.

The med bay doors opened and Shepard instantly saw Ashley on one of the beds. Despite being in a hospital bed, she looked considerably better since the last time Shepard saw her. At least…she looked physically better. To Shepard's confusion, Ashley appeared to be crying. Considering the circumstances, she should have been happy. True no one could ever like being stabbed but she was going to be fine and she no doubt had heard by now that Shepard had arrested Dana. So why was she crying?

Then a thought came to Shepard. It was possible that Ashley was crying because of Liara. Unlike Shepard who had plenty of time to mourn Liara while he was on his way to Shanxi, Ashley hadn't had the chance to process what happened since she was being held captive by Dana. It had to be especially tough for Ashley because she was with Liara when she was killed and she couldn't do anything to save her. Shepard was starting to feel a sense of déjà vu. Just a short time ago, Ashley was helping him cope with Miranda's death and now he was probably going to have to do the same for her. After taking a quick moment to think of some things he could say to help, he slowly approached Ashley's bed. This got Ashley's attention and she turned to face Shepard. Seeing Shepard's injuries made her briefly stop crying and gasp.

"Oh Mark," she said, "what happened to you?"

"I'm alright Ash," Shepard said as he sat down in the chair next to Ashley's bed, "it looks worse than it really is. I kind of let Dana get the better of me during our fight. Fortunately when things started to look hopeless, I was able to end the fight by using her biotic abilities against her."

Ashley chuckled, "no surprise there. You were always good at finding a way to turn an impossible situation in your favor."

"So…are you doing ok? I mean you look fine physically all things considered but when I first came in here you were crying."

"Was I?"

Shepard wiped a tear from Ashley's face and held his now wet finger for her to see, "does this answer your question?"

Seeing the tear caused more of them to appear in Ashley's eyes. Shepard became concerned that something was wrong but before he could do anything, Ashley took his hands.

"I'm fine Mark," she said, "it's just..."

"What?"

"After you left the shuttle to go after Dana, I told Dr. Chakwas about the way I've been feeling lately. She told me she would run additional tests to look into it after I was stabilized. I passed out shortly afterward so she had to run the tests while I was asleep. She gave me the results when I woke up and…and..."

"What is it Ash?"

"I…I'm pregnant."

Initially Shepard didn't react. Then as Ashley's words started to sink in, his eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. He tried to speak but the most he could say was "you…you're…?"

Ashley nodded, "I'm going to have a baby."

Shepard's eyes broke contact with Ashley's and his expression indicated that a lot of thoughts were racing through his mind. The lack of any kind of response was now making Ashley a little nervous.

"I know we never talked about having children but…"

Finally Shepard was able to get some words out, "I…I'm going to be a father? I'm going to be a father!"

To Ashley's surprise, Shepard shot out of his chair and kissed her. He then hugged her while repeating "I love you." Relieved and happy to see Shepard in probably the best mood she'd seen the last few days, Ashley replied "I love you too Mark."

"Ash," Shepard said when they separated, "you have no idea how happy this makes me. Well…I mean, of course you do but we have just been dealing with so much death and sadness the last few months. Now finding out about this new life that we've created, it just…it's the best news I've heard in a long time. So how do you feel about this?"

Ashley sighed, "honestly, I am happy about it but I'm also a little scared. I keep asking myself 'am I ready to be a mom?'"

Shepard put an arm on Ashley's shoulder, "Ash you're going to be a great mom. You've said that you had to help your mom raise your sisters while your father was on deployment so you've already got some experience."

The expression on Ashley's face changed and this time Shepard could see real sadness in it.

"There's more to your concern isn't there?" Shepard asked.

Ashley nodded as new tears formed in her eyes, "Mark I've known something was wrong with me for days but I choose to put it off. After I told you, you wanted me to see Dr. Chakwas before you would let me go on the Shanxi mission. I kept saying that I was fine and I talked you into letting me go. If I had just taken the time to see the doctor sooner, we would have found this out and I wouldn't have gone on the mission and end up getting stabbed. Dr. Chakwas said that if the knife had hit me in the right spot…(sniffle)…do you understand Mark? My stubbornness almost killed our baby. How can I be a good mom if I keep making decisions that put me and our baby at risk?"

"Shhhh," Shepard said to calm Ashley down, "you can't beat yourself up over this Ash. Trust me, I know how ineffective beating yourself up over choices you make is. The important thing right now is that you're fine and the baby's fine. All you can do now is learn from your mistakes. Also, no one ever knows for sure if they are ready to be a parent, no matter how much planning they put into it beforehand. But that doesn't mean we can't try. The baby's not going to come for several months so we will use that time to talk and prepare as best we can."

Shepard could tell his words were helping when Ashley smiled at him. She then slowly moved herself over and invited Shepard to take the now vacant space on her bed. Shepard smiled back and lied down next to her and used his cast-free hand to take one of Ashley's. For a while the two said nothing. They just enjoyed the peace and quiet as well as the sense of freedom they were feeling for the first time since the end of the Reaper War. The case of the mystery backer was finally behind them and now they could just look ahead to the future.

"Do you think we can do it?" Ashley asked. "I mean, being parents and soldiers at the same time."

Shepard shrugged, "that's probably going to have to be one of the things we talk about. I have gotten a lot out of this job. I've helped save a lot of people, brought a lot of criminals to justice and, of course, I met you. On the other hand, based on the stories you've told me about your father, I can understand how hard it would be to be a solider and raise a family. But like I said, we've got time. We'll figure things out Ash, we always do. Right now, let's just enjoy this moment and then I think we have some calls we'll need to make."

"Sounds good, I love you Mark."

"I love you too Ash."

The couple kissed and they spent the next several minutes relaxing and planning when and how they were going to tell everyone the news of their imminent parenthood.

**THE END**

* * *

**A/N: Well, there you have it folks. After almost two years of work, we've reached the end of Mass Effect: After the War. I know the majority of us were disappointed at certain levels with the ending of the original games so I felt a lot of pressure writing this ending as I didn't want to have that happen here. Be sure to check out the Epilogue chapter of my Mass Effect: The Extended Extended Cut story to see my final sendoff for Shepard, Ashley and the rest of the Normandy Crew (you may want to have some tissues handy just in case).**

**This process has been a roller coaster but I wouldn't trade anything for this experience and I am happy that so many of you have enjoyed the fruits of my labor. After I had finished my Extended Extended Cut story, I had the idea for this story in my head for a long time but was hesitant to write it down but I'm glad I did. The tough part was that I promised myself I would finish this story no matter what but there were times when it felt like I should give up. The support of all of my readers was the primary motivator that kept me going during those moments and for that, I want to thank you all for your patience, comments, reviews and for following this story. I would at this time like to thank a few select individuals.**

**First of all, I would like to thank Centaurus and SAMGTT700. You two have been my most frequent reviewers and I have enjoyed some of the PM chats we've had. The chats have been helpful at giving me the boost I needed as I was putting these last few chapters together. In short, I think of you two as my cheerleading section who cheered me on as I approached the finish line of this story and for that, I can't thank you enough. For the rest of my readers out there, if you're looking for more great Shepley fanfiction to read now that this one is over, I would highly recommend checking out these two as they each have a great story of their own to tell (Centaurus is the author of "Life Goes On" and SAMGTT700 is the author of "Shepard's Journey: The Final Act").**

**Secondly, I would like to thank pokefester. I had a rough patch around chapter 40 where I was feeling discouraged because I was losing followers. Your review was a huge shot in the arm for me and really encouraged me to keep going. Thank you my friend.**

**Thirdly, I wish to once again thank Berserker79 for allowing me the use of his artwork as my cover image. This was a huge project for me and I felt it deserved a cover image and your piece was the perfect fit for it and I thank you for allowing me to use it. If the rest of you want to see the original artwork titled "Mass Effect-Marriage", check out Berserker79's deviantart account. While you're there, you should check out his other Shepley themed artwork. It's really cool.**

**Finally I wish to thank the rest of my followers for following me on this journey. Now that this story is over, I would love to hear from some of you about your overall thoughts on this, whether they be good or bad. Whether you leave a review or not, I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate the support of each and every one of you. Some of you have been following this since the beginning while some of you joined in near the end but all of your support means a lot to me. Thank you.**

**As for me, I don't know for sure what the future holds for me. I know I'll probably never write a story that is as long as this one ever again. However I don't think this is the end of my writing career. I have at least one more idea for a short (5 chapters max) Shepley story though it will mostly follow Ashley after the Horizon mission in ME2 and up until we first see her in ME3. Whether this story will be written down is still up in the air but if it does, I hope some of you will check it out. In the meantime, this has been theaterman007 telling you the story of Mass Effect: After the War. Thank you and Happy Holidays. theaterman007 out.**


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